


The Light's Revival

by IWantColouredRain



Series: The Other Original Trilogy [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2019-08-17 14:52:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 35,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16518578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IWantColouredRain/pseuds/IWantColouredRain
Summary: Leia Naberrie, has returned to the desert planet of Tatooine for the first time in four years in an attempt to rescue her love, Han Solo, from the clutches of the vile gangster Jabba the Hutt. Little does Leia know that the tyrannical GALACTIC EMPIRE has secretly begun construction on a new weapon even more powerful than the first dreaded Death Star. Is this the Rebels' end?





	1. His Majesty

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.**

**Chapter One**

**Presenting His Majesty: Jabba the Hutt**

_A year after learning a terrible truth, the Last Padawan, Leia Naberrie,_ _has returned to the desert planet of Tatooine for the first time in four years in an attempt to rescue her love, Han Solo, from the clutches of the vile gangster Jabba the Hutt._

_Little does Leia know that the tyrannical GALACTIC EMPIRE has secretly begun construction on a new armoured space station even more powerful than the first dreaded Death Star that destroyed the planet of Alderaan. When completed, this ultimate weapon will spell certain doom for the small band of Rebels struggling to restore freedom to the galaxy..._

* * *

_**Endor Space, 4 ABY/21 Imperial Era** _

Hovering above the green moon of Endor, was the monstrous form of a half-complete Death Star. Despite now being finished yet, it was already bigger than the first Death Star. Dozens of TIE fighters flew around, guarding the station from any rebel insurgents that might attempt to sabotage the Death Star's construction.

An Imperial Star Destroyer moved overhead towards the massive armoured space station, followed by two zipping TIE fighters. A small Imperial shuttle rocketed out from the main bay of the ship and headed towards the Death Star.

Inside the cockpit of the shuttle, the captain and pilot made contact with the Death Star. "Command station, this is ST 321. Code Clearance Blue. We are starting our approach. Deactivate the security shield."

"The security deflector shield will be deactivated when we have confirmation of your code transmission," the Death Star's Controller replied crisply. "Stand by... You are clear to proceed."

"We are beginning our approach," the captain warned.

In the Death Star's control room, operators moved about among the control panels. A shield operator hit switches beside a large screen, on which was a display of the Death Star, the moon Endor, and a bright web delineating the invisible deflector shield. A control officer rushed over to the shield operator.

"Inform the commander that Lord Vader's shuttle has arrived," the officer ordered, a trickle of fear sneaking into his tone, despite his best efforts. The operator swallowed nervously and nodded obediently.

"Yes, sir." While the operator alerted the commander to Lord Vader's arrival, the control officer moved to a view port and watched as the Imperial shuttle landed in the massive docking bay. A squad of Imperial stormtroopers moved into formation before the craft.

Moff Jerjerrod, a tall, confident technocrat, strode confidently through the assembled troops to the base of the shuttle ramp. The troops snapped to attention. It was obvious that many were uneasy about the new arrival. But the Death Star commander stood arrogantly tall, confident that he was just as untouchable by the Emperor's emissary as any of his other enemies. Only the Emperor could bring him down, in Jerjerrod's opinion. He would soon learn how wrong he was.

The exit hatch of the shuttle opened with a WHOOSH, revealing only darkness. Then, heavy footsteps and mechanical breathing could be heard. From the black void Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith appeared, the air turning cold as he stepped into view.

Vader looked over the assemblage as he walked down the ramp.

"Lord Vader, this is an unexpected pleasure," Jerjerrod greeted him in a smug tone. "We are honoured by your presence."

"You may dispense with the pleasantries, Commander," Vader answered coldly. "I'm here to put you back on schedule." Instantly the commander lost his cocky attitude, turning ashen and beginning to shake in fear.

"I assure you, Lord Vader, my men are working as fast as they can," Jerjerrod claimed, eyes wide and panicked.

"Perhaps I can find new ways to motivate them," Vader threatened subtly.

"I tell you, this station will be operational as planned," the moff insisted desperately.

"The Emperor does not share your optimistic appraisal of the situation," Vader declared flatly. Jerjerrod's fear increased at the mention of the Emperor.

"But he asks the impossible," Jerjerrod begged. "I need more men."

"Then perhaps you can tell him when he arrives."

The commander was aghast. "The Emperor is coming  _here_?" A ripple of horrified fear went through the gathered stormtroopers, though they all remained silent in the background.

"That is correct, Commander," Vader confirmed icily. "And he is most displeased with your apparent lack of progress."

"We shall double our efforts," Jerjerrod croaked out, looking sick with terror.

"I hope so, Commander, for your sake. The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am."

* * *

_**Tattooine, The Outer Rim** _

A lonely, windswept road meandered through the desolate Tatooine terrain in the direction of Jabba's palace. Making their way along the road toward the ominous palace were the droids, See-Threepio and Artoo-Detoo, deep in discussion with each other.

"Of course I'm worried," Threepio snapped at his counterpart. "And you should be, too. Lando Calrissian and poor Chewbacca never returned from this awful place."

Artoo whistled timidly back.

"Don't be so sure," Threepio replied darkly. "If I told you half the things I've heard about this Jabba the Hutt, You'd probably short-circuit."

The two droids fearfully approached the massive gate to the palace as they spoke.

"Artoo, are you sure this is the right place?" Threepio asked fussily. "I better knock, I suppose." Threepio looked around for some kind of signalling device, then timidly knocked on the iron door. "There doesn't seem to be anyone there," he announced instantly. "Let's go back and tell Mistress Leia."

As he spoke, a small hatch in the middle of the door opened and a spidery mechanical arm, with a large electronic eyeball on the end, popped out and inspected the two droids.

"Tee chuta hhat yudd!" An unfamiliar voice barked out harshly.

"Goodness gracious me!" Threepio gasped before pointing first to Artoo, then to himself. "Artoo Detoowha bo Seethreepiowha ey toota odd mischka Jabba du Hutt."

The eye looked from one robot to the other, then there was a laugh before the eye zipped back into the door and the hatch slammed shut.

Artoo beeped his concern.

"I don't think they're going to let us in, Artoo," Threepio told him. "We'd better go."

The ever-loyal and brave Artoo beeped his reluctance as Threepio turned to leave. Suddenly the massive door started to rise with a horrific metallic SCREECH. The robots turned back and faced an endless black cavity.

They looked at one another, afraid to enter. Then Artoo started forward into the gloom. Threepio rushing after his stubby companion. The door lowered noisily behind them.

"Artoo wait. Oh, dear! Artoo. Artoo, I really don't think we should rush into all this."

Artoo continued down the corridor, with Threepio following at his heels. "Oh, Artoo! Artoo, wait for me!"

The door slammed shut with a loud crash that echoed throughout the dark passageway. The frightened robots were met by two giant, green Gamorrean guards, who fell in behind them. Threepio glanced quickly back at the two lumbering brutes, then back to Artoo.

One guard grunted an order, making Artoo beep nervously.

"Just you deliver Mistress Leia's message and get us out of here," Threepio instructed him nervously. "Oh my! Oh! Oh, no."

Walking toward them out of the darkness was the infamous Bib Fortuna, a humanlike alien with long tentacles protruding from his skull who was Jabba's foremost 'advisor'. As much as Jabba had advisors, at any rate.

"Die Wanna Wanga!" Bib snapped out.

"Oh, my!" Threepio gasped. "Die Wanna Wauaga. We - we bring a message to your master, Jabba the Hutt."

Artoo let out a series of quick beeps.

"... and a gift," Threepio added uncertainly. He thought for a moment, then hissed to Artoo, "Gift, what gift?"

Bib shook his head negatively. "Nee Jabba no badda. Me chaade su goodie." Bib held out his hand toward Artoo and the tiny droid backed up a bit, letting out a protesting array of squeaks. Threepio turned to the strange-looking alien.

"He says that our instructions are to give it only to Jabba himself," the gold protocol droid translated. Bib considered that for a moment. "I'm terribly sorry. I'm afraid he's ever so stubborn about this sort of thing."

Bib gestured for the droids to follow. "Nudd Chaa."

The droids followed the tall, tentacled alien into the darkness, trailed by the two guards.

"Artoo, I have a bad feeling about this," Threepio whispered.

The throne room was filled with the vilest, most grotesque creatures ever conceived in the universe. Artoo and Threepio seemed very small as they paused in the doorway to the dimly lit chamber. Light shafts partially illuminated the drunken courtiers as Bib Fortuna crossed the room to the platform upon which rested the leader of the nauseating crowd: Jabba the Hutt.

The self-proclaimed monarch of the galactic underworld was a repulsive blob of bloated fat with a maniacal grin. Chained to the horrible creature was a beautiful green Twi'lek dancer named Oola. At the foot of the dais sat an obnoxious birdlike creature called Salacious Crumb.

Bib whispered something in the slobbering degenerate's ear. Jabba laughed horribly at the two terrified droids before him. Threepio bowed politely.

"Good morning."

"Bo Shuda!" Jabba barked back.

The robots jump forward to stand before the repulsive, loose- skinned villain. "The message, Artoo, the message," Threepio urged his counterpart frantically.

Artoo whistled, and a beam of light projected from his domed head, creating a blue hologram of Leia on the floor. The image grew to over ten feet tall, making the young Jedi tower over the space gangsters.

"Greetings, Exalted One," she said politely. "We met once before, but allow me to re-introduce myself. I am Leia Naberrie, Jedi Padawan and friend to Captain Solo. I know that you are powerful, mighty Jabba, and that your anger with Solo must be equally powerful. I seek an audience with Your Greatness to bargain for Solo's life. (Jabba's crowd laughed at that) With your wisdom, I'm sure that we can work out an arrangement which will be mutually beneficial and enable us to avoid any unpleasant confrontation. As a token of my goodwill, I present to you a gift: these two droids."

Threepio was startled by this announcement. "What did she just say?"

The hologram continued "... Both are hardworking and will serve you well."

"This can't be!" Threepio cried. "Artoo, you're playing the wrong message."

Leia's image disappeared. Jabba laughed while Bib spoke to him in Huttese.

Jabba barked out a sentence in Huttese, which Threepio understood it instantly. "There will be no bargain."

"We're doomed," he moaned in despair, gazing in horror at his new owner.

"I will not give up my favourite decoration," Jabba declared, still speaking in Huttese. "I like Captain Solo where he is."

Jabba laughed hideously at that and looked towards an alcove beside the throne.

Hanging high, flat against the wall, exactly as he had looked when he was first frozen by Vader the year before, was Han Solo.

"Artoo, look!" Threepio pointed. "Captain Solo. And he's still frozen in carbonite."

Before either of them could do anything more, they were grabbed and dragged out of the large hall. One of Jabba's Gamorrean guards marched the two of them down a dank, shadowy passageway lined with holding cells.

The cries of various imprisoned creatures bounced off the cold stone walls. Occasionally a repulsive arm or tentacle grabbed through the bars at the hapless droids.

Artoo beeped pitifully.

"What could possibly have come over Mistress Leia?" Threepio moaned. "Is it something that I did? She never expressed any unhappiness with my work. Oh! Oh! Hold it! Ohh!"

A large tentacle wrapped around Threepio's neck. He managed to break free, and they moved on to a door at the end of the corridor. It was revealed as the boiler room when the door slid open, unveiling a room filled with steam and noisy machinery.

The guard motioned them into the boiler room, where they were met by a tall, thin humanlike robot named EV-9D9. Behind the robot a torture rack could be seen pulling the legs off a screaming baby work droid.

A second power droid was upside down. As smoking branding irons were pressed into his feet, the stubby robot let out an agonized electronic scream.

Artoo and Threepio cringed as the guard grunts to EV-9D9.

"Ah, good," Ninedenine nodded in satisfaction. "New acquisitions. You are a protocol droid, are you not?"

"I am See-Threepio, human-cy...," Threepio standard spiel was cut off by the other droid.

"Yes or no will do," she snapped.

"Oh," Threepio faltered. "Well, yes. I am."

"How many languages do you speak?" she demanded.

"I am fluent in over six million forms of communication, and can readily...," again, she interrupted his speech.

"Splendid!" she declared. "We have been without an interpreter since our master got angry with our last protocol droid and disintegrated him."

"Disintegrated?" Threepio repeated weakly.

"Guard!" Ninedenine turned to the guard lurking behind Artoo and Threepio. "This protocol droid might be useful. Fit him with a restraining bolt and take him back to His Excellency's main audience chamber."

The guard shoved Threepio toward the door.

"Artoo, don't leave me!" Threepio wailed as he was dragged away. "Ohhh!"

Artoo let out a plaintive cry as the door closed. Then he beeped angrily.

Ninedenine gave him a sinister smile. "You're a feisty little one, but you'll soon learn some respect. I have need for you on the master's Sail Barge. And I think you'll fit in nicely."

The poor work droid in the background let out another tortured electronic scream.


	2. Revival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Han is unfrozen.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. BTW, I'm sick so I can't promise reliable updates, nor can I promise they'll be up to my usual standard, though I promise I'll give it my best shot. Thanks everyone for your reviews and everything, they make my day.**

**Chapter Two**

**Han'S Revival**

_**Jabba's Palace, Tattooine** _

The court of Jabba the Hutt was in the midst of a drunken, raucous party. Sloppy, smelly monsters cheered and made rude noises as Oola and another female Twi'lek dancer (whose body was rather heavy) performed a seductive dance in front of Jabba's throne.

Jabba leered at the dancers and with a lustful gleam in his eye beckoned Oola to come and sit with him.

Fear filled her and she stopped dancing and backed away, shaking her head. Oola had once been a member of the Ryloth Rebellion before being captured by slavers while on a mission and sold to the Hutts. Even after three long years of being a slave, she had still managed to preserve some of her defiant spirit.

At her refusal, Jabba swiftly began to get angry and jabbed a finger at a spot next to him. "Da Eitha!" he barked sharply.

The lovely woman shook her head again and scream. "Na Chuba negatorie Na!" she yelled. "Na! Natoota..."

Jabba was furious at her refusal and pulled her toward him, tugging harshly on the chain and making her choke and reach up to grab her neck. "Boscka!" He jabbed a button and, before the young slave girl could try to flee, a trap door in the floor sprung open and swallowed her up. As the door snapped shut, a muffled growl was followed by a terrified scream.

Jabba and his monstrous friends laughed hysterically and several revellers hurried over to watch her grisly fate through a rusty metal grate.

Threepio, standing to the side, cringed and glanced wistfully at the frozen form of Han, but was immediately distracted by the sound of a shot offscreen. An unnatural quiet swept through the formerly boisterous gathering.

On the far side of the room, the crush of debauchers moves aside to allow the approach of two guards followed by Boushh, an oddly cloaked bounty hunter, leading his captive, Han's co-pilot and best friend, Chewbacca.

Bib took his place next to his disgusting master, and whispered into his ear, pointing at Chewbacca and the bounty hunter. Jabba listened intently, then the bounty hunter bowed before the gangster and spoke a greeting in a strange, electronically processed tongue called Ubese.

" _ **I have come for the bounty on this Wookiee**_ ," he declared in Ubese.

"Oh, no!" Threepio gasped. "Chewbacca!"

" _ **At last we have the mighty Chewbacca**_ ," the Hutt sneered in his native tongue. Jabba let out a loud, long, blood-curdling laugh and turned to Threepio, waving him closer.

The droid obeyed reluctantly, shrinking in on himself. "Oh, uh, yes, uh, I am here, Your Worshipfulness. Uh... yes!"

Jabba continued to speak, as Threepio nervously translated for him.

Boushh listened, studying the dangerous creatures around the room. He noticed the legendary Boba Fett, standing near the door and glaring darkly at his opposing bounty hunter.

"Oh," Threepio stammered out. "The illustrious Jabba bids you welcome and will gladly pay you the reward of twenty- five thousand."

" _ **I want fifty thousand,"**_ Boushh demanded. _ **"No less."**_

Jabba flew into a rage, knocking the golden droid off the raised throne into a clattering heap on the floor. Boushh adjusted his weapon casually as Jabba raved in Huttese and Threepio struggled back onto the throne's pedestal.

The dishevelled droid tried to compose himself as he continued. "Uh," he mumbled "...but what, what did I say?" He turned to Boushh. "Th, the mighty Jabba asks why he must pay you fifty thousand."

In response, the bounty hunter held up a small silver ball in his hand. Threepio looked at it, then looked at Jabba, then back to the bounty hunter. The droid was very nervous and Jabba was getting very impatient.

"Because he's holding a thermal detonator," Threepio whimpered.

The guards all instantly backed away, as did most of the other creatures in the room. Jabba stared hard at the silver ball, which had begun to glow in the bounty hunter's hand. The room had fallen into a tense hush.

Jabba stared at the bounty hunter malevolently until a sly grin finally crept across his vast mouth and he began to laugh.

" _ **This bounty hunter is my kind of scum,"**_ he declared, unconcerned at the prospect of the bomb going off. _ **"Fearless and inventive."**_  He turned to Threepio and barked out a few curt words.

"Jabba offers the sum of thirty-five," Threepio informed the Uban. "And I suggest that you accept it."

Bib and the other monsters studied the bounty hunter and waited for his reaction. Boushh released a switch on the thermal detonator and it went dead. "Zeebuss," he snapped.

"He agrees!" Threepio announced in relief. "The raucous crowd of creatures erupted in a symphony of cheers and applause as the party returned to its' full noisy pitch. Chewbacca growled in anger as he was given over to a group of guards. No one noticed, as he was led away that a human was disguised as a skiff guard in a partial face mask. It was Lando Calrissian, and though Chewie recognized his scent, (and knew the plan), neither the Wookiee nor the smuggler dared to exchange any signs of recognition, least their plot be discovered.

The band started back up and some more dancing slave girls took the centre of the floor, to the hoots of the loudly appreciative creatures.

Boushh leant casually against a column with gunfighter cool and surveyed the scene, his gaze stopping only when it connected with a glare from across the room. Boba Fett was watching him. Boushh shifted slightly, cradling his weapon lovingly. Boba Fett shifted with equally ominous arrogance. Bounty hunters were rarely friends with each other for a reason, after all.

* * *

Later that night, the room was silent and deserted, only the awful debris of the alien celebration giving mute witness to the activity that had been there before. Several drunk creatures lay unconscious around the room, snoring loudly.

A shadowy figure moved stealthily among the columns at the perimeter of the room. It was Boushh, the bounty hunter. He picked his way carefully through the snoring, drunken creatures.

Han hung spotlighted on the wall, his coffin-like case suspended by a force field. The bounty hunter quickly deactivated the force field by flipping a control switch to one side of the coffin. The heavy case slowly lowered to the floor of the alcove.

Boushh stepped up to the case, studying Han, then turned to the controls on the side of the coffin. He activated a series of switches and, after one last, hesitant look at Han, slid the decarbonization lever.

The case began to emit a high-pitched sound as the hard shell covering the contours of Han's face started to melt away. The bounty hunter watched anxiously, biting his lip in a move that seemed uncharacteristic for the confident man, as Han's body was freed of its' metallic coat and his forearms and hands, previously raised in front of him in reflexive protest, dropped to lie slackly at his side. His face muscles relaxed from their mask of horror. He appeared dead.

Boushh's ugly helmet leant close to Han's face listening for the breath of life. Nothing. He ran a hand over Han's body and waited.

Han's eyes popped open with a start and he began coughing and gasping as his head darted around without appearing to take in any of his surroundings.

The bounty hunter reached out and steadied the staggering man.

"Just relax for a moment," he instructed him gently. "You're free of the carbonite."

Han touched his face with his hand and moaned.

"Shhh," Boushh murmured, running a hand through his hair. "You have hibernation sickness. You need to rest."

"I can't see," Han croaked out.

"Your eyesight will return soon," Boushh assured him.

"Where am I?" Han asked, voice still ragged and trembling.

"Jabba's palace," Boushh replied, still stroking Han's hair gently. For some reason, Han felt as if the gesture was familiar, but it was too dazed to know where from.

"Who are you?"

The supposed bounty hunter reached up and lifted the helmet from 'his' head, revealing first the face of a typical Uban. Then he ran his hand over his face, making it ripple before it turned into the features of a human woman in her early-twenties, though her eyes were tired and troubled. She had golden hair (pinned in an infinity-styled bun), gentle features and blue eyes filled with love as she gazed at Han. It was Leia Naberrie, the Last of the Jedi.

"Someone who loves you," she whispered, her eyes shimmering.

Han finally placed the voice, gasping out a desperate "Leia!"

Her eyes shimmered with tears as she answered him. "Yes Han. It's me. But we don't have much time. I gotta get you out of here."

As Leia helped her weakened lover to stand up, she was so intent on him that she failed to recognize the Force's warning in the back of her mind until it was too late for the pair. The relative quiet was pierced by an obscene Huttese cackle that came from the other side of the dark alcove.

"What's that?" Han demanded urgently, his eyes flicking from one side to the other in a futile attempt to see what was happening. "I know that laugh."

The curtain on the far side of the alcove opened, revealing Jabba the Hutt, surrounded by Bib and several other of his alien 'courtiers'.

Jabba gave another ugly laugh again, and his cronies joined in with him in a cacophony of sadistic alien glee.

Han swallowed in recognition, his vision beginning to return. "Hey, Jabba," he said nervously. Leia had positioned herself half in front of him, one hand hovering over her blaster, dangling from her belt. Unfortunately, Jabba's guards had surrounded them, and Leia cursed herself for being such a fool. She knew better than that!

"Look, Jabba," Han went on in a nervously reasonable tone of voice. "I was just on my way to pay you back, but I got a little side tracked. It's not my fault, it's the Empire's. They tried to kill me! You'd never get your money if I was dead, now would you?" he babbled on, barely knowing what he was saying, his head pounding fiercely and his thoughts feeling foggy.

Jabba laughed maliciously at the evident anxiety the two infamous Rebels were unable to hide. "It's too late for that, Solo," he told Han scornfully in Huttese. "You may have been a good smuggler, but now you're Bantha fodder."

"Look...," Han tried to convince him, only to be cut off by the king of the Hutts and the Galactic Underworld, who was beginning to lose his temper.

"Take him away!" Jabba yelled at the guards.

Leia cried out and jerked as the guards grabbed Han and started to lead him away. But as she moved towards him, one of the guards jabbed his blaster into the side of Han's head, causing her to freeze in place. Fearing for his life, she didn't dare to move again, or try to use the Force. She couldn't risk not being quick enough. Luke, Neena and Lando were their best hope now.

"Jabba...," Han called, setting aside his pride to beg as he heard Leia's cry and felt the blaster press into the side of his head. "I'll pay you triple! You're throwing away a fortune here. Don't be a fool!"

Jabba ignored his pleading, and Han was roughly dragged off by the guards.

Lando, still disguised as a member of Jabba's small army, quickly moved forward and attempted to lead Leia away. He was stopped by Jabba's sharp order.

"Bring her to me," the Hutt demanded.

Jabba chuckled as Lando and a second guard dragged the beautiful, young Jedi apprentice towards him. Threepio peeked out from behind a random courtier, squeaked softly in horror at the sight of his mistress' rough treatment and quickly turned away in disgust.

Leia was flung onto her knees in front of the Hutt, but just as quickly scrambled back up, ignoring and resisting the guard's attempt to shove her back down again and glaring icily at Jabba.

For a second, Jabba had to hide a shiver as he recalled the Jedi of Old, and the many feats they had been rumoured to be capable of. Even a half-trained Padawan had been a fearsome and lethal opponent, able to bend a person's mind to their own will. And Leia Naberrie was no Republic-era Jedi. She was an Empire-era Jedi, and a soldier. He couldn't underestimate her, or he would find himself short a few limbs. Including his head.

"You won't be able to keep us here," she whispered in warning, her blue eyes boring into him. "The Force is with us."

"I don't believe in the Force," Jabba grunted back, making Leia smirk darkly.

"And that's why It will never help you," she said simply.


	3. Demands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leia gives Jabba a warning.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. Any time that Jabba speaks, it's in Huttese. Cookies to anyone who notices the EU reference!**

**Chapter Three**

**Knight's Demand**

_**Jabba's Palace, Tattooine** _

For as long as Force-sensitives had been known, there had been people who searched for ways to counter the astounding abilities of the lucky few blessed with Sensitivity. Mainly they failed, and the few times they succeeded in finding ways to temporarily (nothing could ever fully remove a person's sensitivity), the knowledge was quickly destroyed by either the Jedi or the Sith. It was perhaps the only thing the two orders agreed on.

But, in the dying days of the Republic, a group of scientists working for the Separatists had managed to create a 'Force Blocker' on the instructions of Count Dooku. He had killed them for it, of course. After all, it could be used against the Sith as well as the Jedi. But first he had ripped the secret to the blocker from the minds of those who had created it, and then he had shared it with his Master.

After ordering the Jedi Purges, the Empire had made full use of the serum. The few Jedi who survived Order 66 were already dazed and flirting with Darkness due to the agony of the Purges. The use of the serum rendered them helpless, and they were then dragged to Mustafar to be either killed or converted. The files on the AgriCorps were plundered, and the members were, like the Jedi, captured, injected with the blocker and taken to Mustafar. Any other Force-sensitives the Empire got their hands on received the same treatment, no matter what their age or species.

In the year 3 IE, Ahsoka had been caught and injected with the serum while still being trained by Obi-Wan. He and Kanan had saved her, and several Alderaanian scientists working for the Rebellion had reverse-engineered the serum in the hopes of finding a counter to it. They had failed to make an antidote, but they  _had_  learned that a certain amount of resistance to it could be gained.

Like with any poison, if given small doses for a long period of time, you eventually gained a partial immunity. The blocker still affected the subject, but they were not so vulnerable. (A fully-affected sensitive would be so tender a baby blanket would feel like sandpaper, they would suffer severe and violent hallucinations, and be completely hysterical, unable to eat or drink without getting sick for a minimum of three days, depending on the species. Often they would be so insensible they would try and commit suicide, as they simply couldn't cope without feeling the Force around them.)

Reluctantly, Obi-Wan had decided to have himself and his apprentices go through the process of gaining theimmunity. He had reasoned that, although it was a terrible, traumatizing process, the long-term gains would be worth it in the end. Leia had received her first taste of the blocker less than three weeks after becoming Obi-Wan's student. She had stopped with her daily injections the day Cassian had come to the Council with the information about the Death Star. She still retained her resistance to the blocker's effects, though.

Therefore, when Jabba ordered her to be injected with it, she bit her lip, not in fear as her captors presumed, but to keep from smirking. It was unbefitting of a Jedi, and although her braids had not yet been cut, Leia felt...different. No longer a student, and more connected to the Force.

Despite her resistance, she still moaned as the needle pierced her skin and the damned injection entered her system. Her connection to the Force seemed to lessen, as if she were at the bottom of a deep tunnel, and the Force was hovering above her, only barely in reach. She wouldn't be able to actively use it, only passively. A queasy feeling made her shake her head and clutch her stomach, and the world seemed to gain a grey tinge to it, as if all life had been sucked away. Her head throbbed, but she could think, move, and she wasn't having a fit of hysteria, pleading for mercy. A definite improvement to earlier years.

She had already checked Bib's mind (which was ridiculously weak defences-wise. He was definitely an alcoholic) and learned that the Hutt King hadn't used the serum before. As such, no one was confused by her ability to stay upright, given she was still clearly off-balance from it. She stayed compliant however, following the plan and not fighting the way she wanted to as she was dressed in a ridiculous slave girl outfit by a pink Twi'lek.

After being changed, Bib dragged her back towards the throne room by a metal leash attached to a thick (electrified, unless she missed her guess) collar locked around her neck. It had spikes going inward, towards her neck, and she could feel them digging lightly into her skin, just about avoiding making her bleed. As she padded along passively, she spotted Luke and Neena, peeking out carefully from behind a column at her. Save for Bib Fortuna himself, there was no one else around. Perfect.

Immediately, Leia stopped. Bib turned, snapping at her in angry Huttese as he pressed a button on the end of the leash. Leia cried out automatically as pain coursed through her slim form, but she quickly overcame it. Luke aimed his blaster at her cry, his stun blast hitting Bib right in the centre of his back and causing the criminal to collapse. Luke then ran over to her and began helping to remove her collar (she had already unlocked it with the Force, now mostly recovered.) Meanwhile, Neena stood guard.

"Here," Luke passed her over a bundle, making her smile back at him in thanks as she swiftly began pulling her outfit on over her slave costume.

After the Purges, the surviving Jedi had stopped wearing the traditional robes of the Order, allowing them to blend in better. Upon joining the Rebellion, Leia had vowed to wear nothing save for mourning colours until the Empire fell. She had also promised to maintain her planet's clothing style, given the high amount of significance Naboo placed on such things. However, sometime over the past year, Leia had decided on a compromise. Her clothing stayed dark, but she had adopted a Nubian style of robes instead of her old smuggler/pilot outfits.

This particular outfit had been chosen for intimidation purposes. Jabba was, when you got down to it, nothing more than an over-grown bully. When confronted by someone stronger than him, he would crumble.

She wore a formfitting, thigh-length bronze tunic, with gold cuffs and a square neckline (also edged with gold), and tight bronze leggings. A thick leather band was wrapped around her waist, protecting her stomach and showing off the blaster on her hip (her new lightsabre was  _almost_  done, but not quite). Her brown boots were made of bantha-hide, and went up to mid-way between her ankle and leg, with a slight heel designed to aid in her acrobatic stunts during battle. She quickly scooped her hair into its' typical infinity bun, and slipped her arms into the sleeves of her bronze cloak (also edged with gold).

"Well?" she asked her friends, quirking an eyebrow. "How do I look, then?"

Neena flashed her a bright grin as Luke answered. "You look like a Jedi Knight."

"Good." She turned to Bib and crouched beside the still-unconscious criminal. "Time to wake up," she instructed him, waving her hand. Already, the effects of the Force-Blocker were more than half-way out of her system. She was certain that by the time that they spoke with Jabba, she would be back to herself once again.

Bib stirred and frowned in bemusement at her, but she didn't give him a chance to speak. As soon as his eyes were open, she waved a hand over his face and ordered him to, in a voice that echoed with the Force "Take us to Jabba."

When they arrived at the throne room, Jabba was asleep in his ornate throne, with Salacious sitting by Jabba's tail, watching it wriggle. Threepio stood behind Jabba looking miserable as Bib went up to the gangster slug.

"At last!" Threepio cried when he saw them standing in the doorway. "Mistress Leia is free and she has come to rescue me! Thank the Force!"

"Master," Bib called. Jabba awoke with a start and Bib continued, a dazed expression on his face as he spoke and gestured at Leia. "Leia Naberrie, Jedi Knight."

"She is my property!" Jabba growled. "How dare-"

" _I_ am  _no_  one's property," Leia declared icily. Despite himself, Jabba shuddered. He was old, and vividly remembered the Jedi of old. They were not beings to be crossed. "And I must be allowed to speak." Luke and Neena stood quietly behind her, hands on their blasters in silent support.

"She must be allowed to speak," Bib agreed dully.

In a fit of raw fury, Jabba clobbered Bib and shoved him roughly away.

"You weak-minded fool!" the gangster spat. "She's using a Jedi mind trick on you."

Leia stared hard at Jabba. "You will bring Captain Solo and the Wookiee Chewbacca to me," she told him firmly, but softly. As if she were simply stating a fact. The tone only increased Jabba's already towering rage.

Jabba snarled in rage. "Your mind powers will not work on me,  _slave_!" he declared adamantly. Having a Jedi as a slave would be the ultimate prize, and he didn't intend to give it up.

Leia didn't even bat an eye. Even before she had started her Trials, (and she was definitely going through her Trials at the moment, it was the only explanation for her increased connection to the Force), Jabba the Hutt hadn't frightened her. "Nevertheless, I'm taking Captain Solo and his friends," she insisted. "You can either profit by this... or be destroyed! It's your choice. But I warn you not to underestimate me."

Jabba's laugh was mean and loud. It was obvious that he didn't believe her threats.

"Mistress Leia, you are standing on...," Threepio tried to warn her, but was cut off.

"There will be no bargain, young Jedi," Jabba growled. "I shall enjoy watching you die."

Leia held out a hand carelessly, and a pistol jumped out of a guard's holster and flew into her hand. The bewildered guard grabbed for it as Jabba raised his hand.

"Bascka!" the Hutt barked. Suddenly, the floor dropped away, sending Leia and the hapless guard into the pit. The pistol went off, blasting a hole in the ceiling. Jabba laughed and his courtiers join in. As Luke started forward only to be restrained by Lando, Neena noticed a redhaired human dancer in the corner. She didn't know why the woman caught her eye, but she memorized her face anyway. Something about her seemed important in some way.

While Neena did so, Luke cast a furious look at Lando, who shook his head in an unspoken "no."

At the same time, Leia and the guard dropped twenty-five feet from a chute into the dungeonlike cage. Leia landed lightly on her feet, and began scanning the pit calmly in search of an escape. Her blaster had disappeared, but she was unconcerned. The Force would protect her. In contrast, the guard yelled hysterically for help that they both knew would never come.

A crowd gathered around the edge of the pit as the door in the side of the pit started to rumble open, making the guard scream loudly in panic.

"Oh, no!" Threepio moaned in despair. "The Rancor!"

At the side of the pit, an iron door rumbles upward and a giant, fanged rancor emerged. Leia stayed quiet and still in her position. She had already scanned through the guard's mind briefly, and been completely disgusted by it. A murdering rapist with multiple slaves who beat his wife (whom he had been forced into marrying) and children. He took pleasure in watching others be slaughtered violently for Jabba's entertainment. It seemed fitting that he would now share those poor peoples' fate. She would shed no tears for his death.

She watched in silence as the guard ran to the side of the pit and began trying futilely to scramble to the top. The hideous beast closed in on him. The Rancor didn't seem to notice her as it moved past the young Jedi, towards the guard. As he continued to scramble helplessly, the Rancor picked him up and tossed him into the air, where he proceeded to fall, screaming, into its' slavering jaws. The audience cheered and laughed at the guard's grisly fate as the rancor swallowed him with a loud gulp.

That was when the beast finally took notice of Leia. It turned around and started stalking towards her, but the young Jedi dashed away just ahead of the monster's swipe and picked up the long arm bone of an earlier victim. Before she could do anything with it, the monster grabbed Leia and brought her up to its' salivating mouth. Despite the grim outlook of her situation, the young woman still showed no signs of fear or distress.

At the very last moment, she wedged the bone in the creature's mouth and was dropped to the floor, landing on her feet with catlike agility. The monster bellowed in rage and flailed about, hitting the side of the pit and causing an avalanche.

The beast crushed the bone in its' jaws and started searching for Leia, who had squeezed herself into a crevice in the pit wall.

She looked past the animal to the holding cave beyond, spotting a utility door on the far side of the holding cave. She knew that she could escape if she could just get across.

That was when the Rancor spotted her and reached into the crevice towards her.


	4. Rancor Defeat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leia slays the rancor

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.**

**Chapter Four**

**Rancor Defeat**

_**Jabba's Palace, Tattooine** _

As the rancor reached into the crevice she had jammed herself into, Leia grabbed a large rock with the Force and raised it, bringing it smashing down on the Rancor's finger.

The rancor let out a loud howl of pain as Leia then promptly made a run for the holding cave. Reaching the door, she slammed her hand down on a button to open it. But, when it opened, she found her way barred by a heavy metal gate between that stood between her and safety from the rancor.

Beyond the gate a pair of guards looked up from their dinner.

Leia turned to see the monster heading right for her, and began to try and open the gate with the Force, hindered by hidden mechanical locks. Without being able to see them, it was harder to open them, though not impossible.

The guards moved to the gate and start poking at the young Jedi with spears, laughing mockingly at her.

Leia darted out of reach and crouched against the wall as the animal started to reach for her. Suddenly, she noticed a main door control panel halfway up the wall. As the rancor moved in for the kill, Leia used the Force to pick up a skull from the cave floor and hurl it at the panel.

The giant overhead door came crashing down on the beast's head, squashing it like a sledgehammer on an egg.

A startled gasp was heard from the stunned court. Consternation rippled through the crowd at the unexpected turn of events. Heads twisted to look at Jabba, who was turning an ugly red with fury.

Luke and Neena laughed in smug delight as Jabba snarled some harsh commands to his guards, making them hurry off fearfully.

_**"Bring me Solo and the Wookiee,"**_ Jabba growled furiously.  _ **"They will all suffer for this outrage."**_

The two rancor keepers came into the cage and began examining their dead beast. One of them broke down and started weeping as if it was his child who had been killed. The other glared menacingly at Leia, who was unfazed. When you had faced down a Dark Lord of the Sith, a simple rancor keeper didn't even rank on the list of concerns.

Several guards rushed into the holding tunnel and dragged Leia away roughly, despite her lack of resistance as she was taken to the throne room.

The crowd of creepy courtiers parted as Han and Chewie were brought into the throne room, while another pair of guards hauled Leia up the steps. Neena and Luke remained restrained at the side of the room, silently awaiting a signal from Leia on what to do to escape their present situation.

"Han!" Leia called to him. Despite having seen him earlier, she was relieved to see that it seemed like he was almost recovered from his carbon-sickness. It felt as if she were seeing him for the first time since he had been frozen.

"Leia!" he exclaimed, head turning towards her voice eagerly.

"Are you all right?" she asked him anxiously, leaning towards him and ignoring the guards trying to tug her away.

"Fine," Han shrugged casually, just as unconcerned with their current status of prisoners. It wasn't a new one, after all. "Together again, huh?" He grinned at her flirtatiously, and she smirked back with a hint of seduction in her tone as she replied.

"Wouldn't miss it."

"How are we doing?" Han asked, referring to the Alliance.

Leia shrugged, a hint of grimness darkening her face. "The same as always."

"That bad, huh? Where're Luke and Neena?"

Leia looked over at where the two were restrained.

"Over here," Neena yelled. "How was life as a popsicle?"

Han made a face in her direction, but was kept from answering as several of the guards, including Lando, brought Leia to the bottom of the throne and forced her to her knees. Ever the rebel, she managed to switch her position into her favoured lotus-meditation style instead. Jabba growled angrily at her insubordination, and she gazed innocently back up at him, her blue eyes wide and mischievous, for all her face was fixed in a serene look.

Jabba snapped something in Huttese, and Threepio groaned as he stepped forward and translated for the captives.

"Oh, dear. His High Exaltedness, the great Jabba the Hutt, has decreed that you are to be terminated immediately."

"Good, I hate long waits," Han declared, making his lover giggle in amusement, though her expression quickly cooled into an icy look as Threepio continued with announcing their sentences.

"You will therefore be taken to the Dune Sea and cast into the pit of Carkoon, the nesting place of the all-powerful Sarlacc."

Han turned to Leia. "That doesn't sound so bad."

"In his belly, you will find a new definition of pain and suffering, as you are slowly digested over a thousand years," Threepio explained.

Han's eyes widened, his cocky mask faltering for a second at that. "On second thought, let's pass on that, huh?" Chewie barked in agreement.

"You should have bargained, Jabba," Leia said, her voice calm as she stared unflinchingly into her enemy's eyes. "That's the last mistake you'll ever make."

Jabba cackled evilly at this. As the guards pulled the prisoners from the throne room, a loud cheer rose from the crowd. Luke, Neena and Chewie all exchanged concerned looks, worried at their apparent loss of control of the situation, but Leia Naberrie, Jedi warrior, could not suppress her smile. She knew that they had all the power in this game, even if her comrades did not. After all, the Force was with them.

* * *

_**Tattooine Desert** _

Jabba's huge sail barge moved above the desert surface accompanied by two smaller skiffs. There was one that was there to act as guards against both Sand People, and general enemies of the Hutt gang. The other one of the skiffs however, had another purpose.

It was carrying Leia, Han, and Chewie - all in tight bonds – to their execution. They were huddled together on the deck, deep in conversation and surrounded by guards, one of whom was Lando, who was still in disguise.

"I think my eyes are getting better," Han informed his companions. "Instead of a big dark blur, I see a big light blur."

Leia reached out and ran a hand through his hair soothingly, despite the awkward feeling of her hands being tied together. She could easily undo them, but she was going along with it for now. She had to wait for the Force's signal.

"There's nothing to see, anyway," she comforted him. "I was here a few times before on missions, you know. Nothing but sand with a few moisture farms and settlements that even be called villages, they're all so tiny. Dullest planet that I've ever seen."

"You're gonna die here, you know," Han replied, guilt seeping into his voice despite his light words. "Convenient, isn't it?"

She leaned in to touch her lips against his forehead as if she were kissing him. "Just stick close to Chewie and Lando," she whispered to him softly, her breath making his skin tingle. "I've taken care of everything, I promise."

"Oh... great!"

Over on the sail barge's observation deck, Jabba the Hutt rode like a sultan in the massive antigravity ship.

His entire retinue was with him, drinking, eating, and just generally having a good time as they waited for the show to begin.

Luke was restrained by the wall watching Neena, who was now dressed in the same type of slave outfit that Leia had been wearing earlier, with a chain attached to her neck.

She was looking anxiously back at Luke when the chain was suddenly pulled tight, making her gasp in pain and sudden lack of air as Jabba tugged the scantily clad spy to him. She shuddered in open revulsion as he forced her to sit on his lap, and Luke growled in anger, clenching his fists to restrain himself from using the Force, as he desired.

' _Never in anger, Luke'_ Leia reminded him mentally, though at the moment he couldn't tell if she were actually speaking to him or if he was remembering her lessons **.** _Remember that, if you remember anything._ _Never_ _use the Force in anger.'_

" _ **Soon you will learn to appreciate me,"**_ Jabba told Neena as he stroked her hair.

She glared up at him. "Burn in the seven hells of Corellia, you sithing piece of banthakriff," she spat. His eyes went cold, and he backhanded her so hard, she felt her cheekbone shatter as she tumbled onto the floor, where he forced her to stay by placing a foot over her stomach. Luke bit back a snarl, and forced himself to start going through the breathing exercises given to him by Leia. Patient, he had to be patient.

Meanwhile Threepio was wandering through the aliens on board the Sail Barge, looking nervously over his shoulder, he didn't notice the obstacle in his path until too late. He found himself bumping into a smaller droid serving drinks, spilling them all over the place. The stubby droid let out an angry series of beeps and whistles.

"Oh, I'm terribly sor... Artoo!" Threepio cried loudly. "What are you doing here?"

Artoo beeped a quick reply.

"Well, I can see you're serving drinks, but this place is dangerous," Threepio huffed and crossed his golden arms in a fussy manner. "They're going to execute Mistress Leia and, if we're not careful, us too!"

Artoo whistled a singsong response.

"Hmm," Threepio muttered in a sceptical tone of voice. "I do wish that I had your confidence in the whole thing."

Finally, the convoy moved up over a huge sand pit. The Sail Barge stopped to one side of the depression, along with the escort skiff. But the prisoner's skiff did not stop. Instead, it moved out directly over the centre and hovered, waiting.

At the bottom of the deep cone of sand is a repulsive, mucous- lined hole, surrounded by thousands of needle-sharp teeth. It was the legendary Sarlaac. Han and Chewie both held back shivers, as did Luke and Neena aboard the barge, but Leia simply looked it over with a cool and calm expression as a plank was extended from the edge of the prisoner's skiff.

One man gripped her arm while two of his fellow guards released Leia's bonds before they shoved her out onto the plank above the Sarlacc's mouth.

Jabba was now with Neena and Luke, standing by the rail and watching. Threepio leaned forward and the slobbering villain mumbled something to him. As Threepio stepped up to a comlink, Jabba raised his fat arm and the motley array of intergalactic pirates all fell silent as Threepio's voice was amplified by multiple loudspeakers.

"Victims of the almighty Sarlacc: His Excellency hopes that you will die honourably," Threepio declared on Jabba's behalf. "But should any of you wish to beg for mercy, the great Jabba the Hutt will now listen to your pleas."

Aboard the prison skiff, Han stepped forward arrogantly and began to speak. "Threepio, you tell that slimy piece of... worm-ridden filth he'll get no such pleasure from us," he declared, glancing at Leia and Chewie. "Right?" Chewie growled in agreement.

"Jabba!" Leia called to the gangster. "This is your last chance. Free us or you will die." Lando moved unobtrusively along the skiff as Leia shot a quick look to him.

The assembled beings all rocked with mocking laughter as Artoo zipped unnoticed up the ramp to the upper deck.

Jabba's laughter subsided as he spoke into the comlink.

" _ **Move her into position,"**_  he ordered as he made a thumbs-down gesture.

Neena gave Luke a worried look, but he simply grinned reassuringly back at her, trying to hide his own worry.

Artoo reappeared from below and hurried over to the rail facing the pit. Below, in the skiff, Leia was prodded by a guard to the edge of the plank over the gaping Sarlacc.

She looked up at Artoo, then gave a jaunty salute: the signal the little droid had been waiting for. A flap opened in Artoo's domed head as Jabba gave the order to  _ **"Put her in."**_


	5. King's Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The death of Jabba the Hutt, king of crime

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.**

**Chapter Five**

**The Death of the King**

_**Jabba's Sail Barge, Tattooine** _

Leia was roughly prodded forward and she willingly jumped off the plank to the cheers of the bloodthirsty spectators.

But, before anyone can even realize what was happening, she spun around in mid-air and grabbed the end of the plank by her fingertips. The plank bent wildly from her weight and catapulted her skyward. Flying through the air, she performed a complete flip and dropped down on the end of the plank in the same spot she had just vacated, but facing the skiff instead of the pit.

Casually, she extended an open palm and her new lightsabre, which Artoo had sent arcing towards her, dropped into her outstretched hand.

With Jedi speed, Leia ignited it and attacked the guard who had prodded her off the plank, sending the hapless Gamorrean screaming overboard. The other guards swarmed towards her and she waded in to meet them, her lightsabre flashing. Lando began to struggle with another guard atthe back of the skiff, taking the tentacled man by surprise with his sudden assault.

A bewildered guard landed in the soft, sandy slope of the pit, and began to slide. He clawed desperately at the ground as a Sarlacc tentacle grabbed him and pulled him screaming into the viscous mouth.

Jabba watched all of it from the sail barge, and exploded in rage. He barked commands, and the guards around him rushed off to do his bidding. The creatures watching the action from the window were all in an uproar, and Luke and Neena began subtly preparing themselves to flee. No one noticed the rage flashing across the redhaired dancer's expression as she watched the scene, or the way she disappeared into the chaos of the crowd.

Leia kicked another guard off the skiff and into the waiting mouth of the Sarlacc before turning and starting to untie Chewie's bonds. "Easy, Chewie," she cooed to her Wookiee friend.

At that moment, the deck gunmen on the barge unleashed a series of blasts from a big cannon on the upper deck. Lando was tossed from the deck of the rocking skiff. He managed to grab a rope, and dangled desperately above the Sarlacc pit.

"Whoa!" he cried frantically as he swung dangerously. "Whoa! Help!"

On the upper deck of the sail barge, a certain bounty hunter was preparing to help Jabba's forces. With two swift strides, the dangerous Boba Fett ignited his rocket pack, leaped into the air, and flew from the barge down to the skiff.

He landed on the skiff and started to aim his laser gun at Leia, who had finished freeing Han and Chewie from their bonds.

But before Boba could fire, Leia, sensing the danger in the Force, spun to face him, her lightsabre sweeping in an elegant Ataru movement as she moved. Taking him by surprise at her sudden movement, she managed to slice the bounty hunter's gun in half.

Immediately, the skiff took another direct hit from the barge's deck gun. Shards of debris from the deck of the skiff went flying as Chewie and Han were thrown against the rail.

"Chewie, you okay?" the still-sightless Han asked his best friend. "Where is he?"

The Wookiee was wounded from the impact, shards of deck embedding themselves in his body, and he howled in pain and concern for Han.

"I'm okay, pal," Han tried to reassure him. "You'll be okay too."

For a moment, Leia was distracted, darting a glance towards her friends, and her opponent took advantage. There was, after all, a reason that he was considered 'The Jedi Hunter'. In that split second, Boba fired a cable out of his armoured sleeve.

Instantly, Leia found herself wrapped in a strong cable, her arms pinned against her side, her sword arm free only from the wrist down.

It barely made her bat an eye, let alone pause. She bent her wrist so the lightsabre pointed straight up to reach the wire lasso and cut right through like the chain was made of butter. Leia quickly shrugged away the remnants of the cable and kicked them out of the way of her feet, before going straight back to fighting.

Another blast from the Barge's deck gun hit near Boba and he was knocked unconscious to the deck, next to where Lando was still hanging.

"Han!" Lando called. "Chewie?"

"Lando!" Han yelled back.

Leia remained standing as a fusillade bracketed her. The second skiff, loaded with guards firing their weapons, moved in on her fast, and she went into a series of flips to avoid the shots before she leapt towards the incoming second skiff.

The young Jedi leaped into the middle of the second skiff's deck and began decimating the guards from their midst. They were helpless against her pure speed and lightning-quick reflexes. Those who had once scoffed at the legends of the Old Orders' abilities swiftly found themselves regretting dismissing the stories as fabrications.

Chewie, wounded, tried to lift himself as he barked directions to Han, guiding him towards a spear that had been dropped by one of the guards. Han blindly searched the deck with his hands under Chewie's directions, until he finally managed to grab hold of the spear.

Boba Fett, badly shaken by his injury, rose from the deck. He looked over at the other skiff, where Leia was easily defeating the mass of guards, despite being severely outnumbered. Boba raised his arm, and aimed his lethal appendage at her unprotected back.

Chewie, too injured to intervene but still spying the action called desperately to Han.

"Boba Fett's after Leia?!" Han repeated, panicked. " _Boba Fett_?! Where?"

The young space pirate/rebel fighter turned around blindly, and the long spear in his hand whacked squarely in the middle of Boba's Mandalorian rocket pack.

The impact of the swing caused the rocket pack to ignite. Boba blasted off, going flying over the second skiff like a missile, smashing against the side of the huge Sail Barge and sliding away into the pit. He screams as his armour-clad body made its' last flight past Lando and directly into the mucous mouth of the Sarlacc. The Sarlacc burped as Chewie growled a weak congratulations to Han.

Over on the sail barge, Luke leaped onto Jabba's throne, and wrapped the chain that he had quietly taken off Neena's neck around the gangster's bulbous neck. Then he dove off the other side of the throne, pulling the chain violently in his grasp.

Jabba's flaccid neck contracted beneath the tightening chain. His huge eyes bulged from their sockets and his scum-coated tongue flopped out of his mouth.

The Exalted Hutt's huge tail spasmed through its' death throes and then slammed down into final stillness.

The minute Luke felt Jabba's death in the Force, the prince dashed away and rushed over to help Neena, who was holding off several more guards with a blaster she had somehow managed to obtain. Luke summoned another blaster with his rudimentary Force-abilities and together, they started to fight back-to-back.

"This feels right, doesn't it?" Neena called to him as she nailed a Rodian in the neck.

"Doing anything with you feels right," he replied, sending a Gamorrean flying over the railing with a wave of his hand. Neena let out a wild laugh, adrenaline coursing through her veins from the intensity of the fight. She certainly agreed with him about that, at any rate.

As Leia continued to destroy the enemies on the guards' skiff, Han extended his spear downward to Lando, who was still dangling precariously from a rope on the prisoner's skiff.

"Lando, grab it!" Han yelled to him.

"Lower it!" the other man bellowed back.

"I'm trying!" Han called back as a major hit from the barge deck gun knocked the skiff on its' side. Han and almost everything else onboard slid overboard. The rope broke, and Lando fell to the side of the Sarlacc pit. Luckily, Han's foot caught on the skiff railing and he dangled above Lando and the pit.

Meanwhile, Chewie held onto the skiff for dear life as another hit from the deck gun caused the skiff to rock violently.

"Whoa!" Han yelped. "Whoa! Grab me, Chewie! I'm slipping."

Chewie grabbed hold of Han's feet, holding him upside down, as Han again extended the spear toward Lando, who was clutching to the side of the pit.

"Grab it!" Han urged his old friend. "L-Lando. Grab on! Hurry!"

On the second skiff, Leia had just finished off the last guard. She looked around herself and spotted the deck gun blasting away at her helpless companions. Her blue eyes narrowed and her jaw clenched. She turned off her lightsabre and attached it to her belt before bracing herself.

She leapt from the skiff, across a chasm of air, to the sheer metallic side of the Sail Barge. Barely able to get a fingerhold, she began a painful climb up the hull, when suddenly an axe went smashing through a window a mere inch from her head.

With Jedi agility, Leia grasped the wrist holding the axe and yanked the unfortunate guard through the broken window before dropping him into the deadly pit.

Chewie was reaching over the rail for the dangling Han, who was in turn blindly reaching down toward the desperate Lando.

The Baron had stopped his slippage down the sandy slope of the Sarlacc pit by lying very still. Every time he tried to reach for Han, the loose sand moved him closer to joining the Force completely. Despite hearing Leia's preachings on the subject, he wasn't fond of the thought of becoming one with the Force so soon.

"Grab it!" Han urged him. "Almost... You almost got it!"

Just as he spoke, another blast hit the front of the tilted skiff, causing Lando to let go of the spear again.

"Hold it!" Lando shouted. "Whoa!"

Grunting in frustration and strain, Han again extended the spear toward Lando. "Gently now," he instructed his friend. "All... all right. Now easy, easy. Hold me, Chewie."

Suddenly, Lando screamed in agony. One of the Sarlacc's tentacles had wrapped tightly around his ankle, and it was dragging him down the side of the pit.

"Chewie!" Han bellowed frantically. "Chewie, give me the gun. Don't move, Lando."

"No, wait!" Lando protested, wide-eyed. "I thought you were blind!"

"It's all right," Han called back. "Trust me. Don't move."

"All right!" Lando agreed. "A little higher! Just a little higher!"

Han sent up a silent prayer to the Force for help as he carefully adjusted his aim while Lando lowered his head, and the fuzzy-eyed pirate fired at the tentacle. It was a direct hit. The tentacle released Lando in order to recoil from its' sudden pain, and Chewie started to pull them back on board the skiff.

"Chewie, Pull us up!" Han cried. "Come on! Okay... up, Chewie, up!"

The deck gunners had Chewie and the desperate dangling human chain in their gun sights when something up on deck commanded their attention: Leia, standing before them like an avenging angel, re-ignited her lightsabre. The deck gunners had barely reached for their pistols before the young Jedi had demolished them.

Immediately, she turned to see two more gunners (who had been uncovering a giant gun at the end of the barge) racing for her, firing their laser pistols.

At the same time, Luke and Neena were struggling to hold their ground as Artoo zipped through the tumult of confused beings and firing guards to the rescue. The loyal little droid extended a small laser gun and helped them to blast an opening to escape through.

"Come on," Luke ordered, still firing his blaster in order to keep the way clear. "We gotta get out of here quick."

"Go!" Neena cried, waving Artoo on ahead. "Go! Go! GO!"

The three of them raced for the exit, passing Threepio, who was kicking and screaming as Salacious Crumb picked out one of the golden droid's eyes.

"Not my eyes!" Threepio begged. "Artoo, help! Quickly, Artoo. Oh! Ohhh! You beast!"

Artoo dashed over and zapped Salacious, sending him skyward with a scream. The reptilian monkey crashed into the rafters as Artoo, Luke, Neena and Threepio (with his eye dangling from a wire) hurried off.

Leia was warding off laser blasts with her lightsabre, surrounded by guards and fighting like a demon when they emerged onto the upper deck, just as Leia (who was beginning to pant slightly from the exertion) turned to face another guard.

"Get the gun!" she called to her newly-arrived companions. "Point it at the deck!"

While Neena began fighting the guards hand-to-hand, Luke turned toward the barge cannon, climbed on the platform, and swivelled the gun around.

"Point it at the deck!" Leia repeated.

As she spoke, a laser blast hit her mechanical hand and she bent over in pain, but still managed to swing her lightsabre upward and take out the last of the guards.

She looked at the wounded hand, which revealed the mechanism. Quickly, she flexed the hand, sighing in relief when it responded.

Near the rail of the upper deck, Artoo and Threepio steadied themselves as Threepio got ready to jump.

Artoo beeped wildly.

"Artoo, where are we going?" Threepio demanded in a fussy voice. "I couldn't possibly jump, it's much too dangerous."

Ignoring his protests, Artoo pushed the golden droid over the edge before he slipped off himself, tumbling toward the sand.

Leia ran along the empty deck toward Luke, Neena and the barge gun, which Luke had brought around to point down at the deck.

"Come on!" Leia called as she took hold of one of the rigging ropes from the mast.

Luke and Neena held onto her other arm and Leia used the Force to nudge the trigger of the deck gun. A large blast exploded into the deck as the three humans swung out toward the skiff.

Han leaned panting against the rail of the prisoner's skiff while Chewie helped Lando onto the deck and Leia, Luke and Neena landed on the skiff dramatically.

"Let's go!" Leia ordered, dashing to Han's side. "And don't forget the droids."

"We're on our way," Lando responded. He glanced over and smirked at the sight of Han and Leia, locked in a steamy kiss. In the background, the Sail Barge was exploding in stages in the distance. Half of the huge craft was on fire. The whole scene looked like something out of a holo-movie, really.


	6. Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yoda's death.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.**

**Chapter Six**

**Jedi Night**

_**Star Destroyer Executor: In orbit above Endor** _

A Super Star Destroyer and several ships of the Imperial Fleet rested in space above the half-completed Death Star and its' green neighbour, Endor. Four squads of TIE fighters escorted an Imperial shuttle toward the Death Star, bringing with them an air of doom.

Inside the Destroyer, Lord Vader strode down the hallway briskly, accompanied by a very nervous Death Star commander scuttling at his heels as they went to greet the ruler of the galaxy.

Thousands of Imperial troops stood in tight formation, filling the mammoth-sized docking bay. Despite their fear, so strong that Vader could almost taste it, none of them even twitched a muscle as he and the officer walked to the landing platform, where the shuttle was coming to a rest.

The shuttle's ramp lowered and the Emperor's Royal Guards all came out and immediately created a lethal perimeter.

The assembled troops moved to rigid attention with a momentous SNAP.

Then, in the echoing silence that followed, the Emperor appeared.

He was a rather small, shrivelled old man and his bent frame slowly made its' way down the ramp with the aid of a gnarled cane. He wore a hooded cloak similar to the one the Old Jedi wore, except it was black. The Emperor's face was shrouded and difficult to see, save for his piercing yellow eyes. Everyone knew, however, that he was badly scarred. Supposedly, he had gained his disfigurement in an attempt by the Jedi to kill him on the last day of the Republic.

Commander Jerjerrod and Darth Vader kneeled to him, bowing their heads in submission.

The Supreme Ruler of the galaxy was silent for a moment, studying them, before he beckoned to the other Dark Lord.

"Rise, my friend," he said to Vader, his sinister voice sending shivers down the spines of the assembled troopers.

Vader swiftly rose to his feet and fell in just behind the Emperor as he slowly made his way along the rows of troops.

Jerjerrod and the other commanders stayed kneeling until the Supreme Ruler and Vader, followed by several Imperial dignitaries, had all passed by; only then did they join in the procession.

"The Death Star will be completed on schedule," Vader reported emotionlessly.

"You have done well, Lord Vader," the Emperor croaked in reply. "And now I sense you wish to continue your search for young Naberrie."

"Yes, my Master," the Apprentice admitted.

"Patience, my friend," Palpatine murmured. "In time she will seek you out. And when she does, you must bring her before me. She has grown strong. Only together can we turn her to the Dark Side of the Force."

"As you wish," Vader agreed.

"Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen," the Emperor muttered. He laughed softly to himself as they passed along the vast line of Imperial troops.

* * *

_**Dagobah** _

Leaving her family behind again, especially when she had just gotten Han back, had not been easy for Leia to do. But she had known that she had to. She had promised to return to Dagobah, and she felt the Force's silent urgings increasing. Han was safe, back with the Alliance, now it was time for Leia to fulfil her destiny and become a Jedi Knight.

When she arrived however, dread overcame her as she took in Yoda's clear fragility, his weak voice, and the faint shake in his hands. He was almost a thousand years old, she knew. How long did his species even live for in the first place, let alone after everything he had been through in service of the Force and the Jedi Order?

"Hmm," Yoda gave her a knowing look. "That face you make. Look I so old to young eyes?"

Leia was sitting in a corner of the cramped space and, indeed, her expression was been woeful. Caught, she tried to hide it. "No," she shook her head. "Of course not."

"I do, yes, I do!" Yoda chuckled cheerfully. "Sick have I become. Old and weak." He pointed a crooked finger at her. "When nine hundred years old you reach, look as good you will not. Hmm?"

Yoda chuckled again at that, coughed, and hobbled over toward his bed.

"Soon will I rest," he announced. "Yes, forever sleep. Earned it, I have." Yoda sat down on his bed, with great effort.

"Master Yoda, you can't die," Leia pleaded, going to kneel beside him.

"Strong am I with the Force... but not that strong!" Yoda replied. "Twilight is upon me and soon night must fall. That is the way of things ... the way of the Force."

"But I need your help," Leia said plaintively. "I've come back to complete the training."

"No more training do you require," Yoda sighed. "Completed your Trials, you nearly have. But first, more for me to tell you, there is. What know you of the fall of Republic?"

Leia blinked back the tears that shimmered lightly in her eyes and thought carefully. "The Clone Wars were an elaborate trap for the Jedi Order," she said. "The clones all had a command programmed into them. On being activated, they turned on their Jedi Generals, overwhelming them and killing them ruthlessly. The 501st attacked the Temple, and killed everybody there, even the infants in the cribs. Only a handful of Jedi escaped the massacres, and most of them were later found and executed by the Empire."

Yoda nodded, though he was weak he barely moved his chin. "Fearful of death, Skywalker always was," he muttered, making Leia flinch at the name. "Born a slave, and taught that aggression and strength safety meant. So angry, always. A warning, Zonama Sekot was, but listen we did not. Killed the younglings himself, he did. Wrongly believed him to be the Chosen One we did, and arrogant the title made him. More, always he desired... always more."

His eyes flickered to her face and he gestured Leia nearer. She moved closer, accepting the claw he offered her. "Vow, do you, to defend the galaxy no matter the personal cost?"

Leia swallowed and nodded. "I do," she whispered, voice hoarse.

"Vow, do you, to stand against the Dark, and scorn it for eternity?"

"I do."

There was a flash of green beside both sides of her face, and her two Padawan braids (an attempt by Obi-Wan to both acknowledge her status as Jedi Apprentice, and camouflage her from any who would recognize the old symbol) fell to the ground, the smell of burnt hair drifting around.

"Early, this is," Yoda croaked to her. "But needs must." he cleared his throat and activated his lightsabre.  _"We are all Jedi," he murmured. "The Force speaks through us. Through our actions, the Force proclaims itself and what is real. Today we are here to acknowledge what the Force has proclaimed."_ That said, Yoda brought his lightsabre down above each of Leia's shoulders.  _"By the right of the Council, by the will of the Force, I dub thee Jedi, Knight of the Republic."_

The ceremonial words echoed with the Force, and Leia wasn't sure whetheror not the shift she felt in her core was just her imagination or not.

Yoda gave her a steady look. "Remember, Leia," he murmured, voice weakening with each word. "A Jedi's strength flows from the Force.

But beware. Anger, fear, aggression. Of the Dark Side are they. Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny.

Leia...Leia...Do not...Do not underestimate the powers of the Emperor, or suffer your father's fate, you will. Leia, when gone am I (cough), the last of the Jedi will you be. Leia, the Force runs strong in your family. Pass on what you have learned, Leia... There is... another...Sky...Sky...walker." He caught his breath. A shiver ran through the ancient green creature, and he died.

Leia stared at her dead master as he disappeared in front of her teary eyes.

After an hour spent mourning for her late teacher, Leia forced herself up, and began to collect all of Yoda's meagre belongings, stowing them in a burlap sack she found. That done, she left the hut and returned, dejected and grieving, to her X-Wing. The fact that she was now officially a Jedi Knight did nothing to improve her mood. The Last of the Jedi. It was real now. For all she had born that title since Obi-Wan's death, it was only true now.

Glumly, she wandered back to her ship with slumped shoulders and downcast eyes.

Artoo beeped at her in greeting, but was ignored by his depressed mistress. Leia kneeled down, began to help Artoo with the ship, then stopped and shook her head in despair.

"I can't do it, Artoo," she confessed. "I can't go on alone."

"Yoda will always be with you," Obi-Wan's voice came from nowhere, making Leia look up to see his image, shimmering in the air.

"Obi-Wan!" she cried, scrambling to her feet. "Why didn't you tell me?"

The ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi approached her through the swamp, his expression gentle.

"I had several motives," he admitted. "Your safety. Your mental stability. Fear of what would happen if Vader learnt that you had survived birth."

"I don't understand," she whispered brokenly. "Why lie? Why the Naberries? Did they know who I really am?"

"You are Leia Amidala Naberrie," Obi-Wan told her firmly. "And I lied to protect you, as I promised your birth mother that I would when she begged me to."

She stared at him, tears falling freely from pain and confusion filled eyes, and he gave a heavy sigh.

"Your birth mother was Padmé Amidala Naberrie," he told her gently, making her eyes widen in surprise.

"Mama's sister," she murmured in realization. "That's why you brought me to them. But wouldn't it have been obvious? And a child was buried with her! We used to visit their graves!"

Obi-Wan gave a tired nod. "Yes, Padmé and Sola were sisters, and that's why we chose to bring you to your maternal family. Your features would blend in with theirs, and Sola was in confinement with her own child. You were easily passed off as theirs. I didn't know until I'd already given you to Sola and Darred that she had suffered a stillbirth. It was their idea to bury Melé as Padmé's child." He paused and gave Leia an intense look.

"Don't think for a second that your parents didn't love you just as much as the daughters they conceived," he said determinedly. "They loved you fiercely, from the moment I handed you over. And, yes. They knew that Vader was your father."

"Did he," Leia paused to grimace and take a deep breath. "Did he rape her, or-?"

Obi-Wan looked pained. "You know of Jedi mind control," he said, Leia nodding in confirmation. "How we subtly convince the mind to believe what we desire it to. And you know that the Sith simply force someone's mind to bend to their will, often damaging it in the process.

But there is another, longer-lasting way to alter someone's mind. You form a mental bond with them, and over time, they begin to lose their own will, and simply bend to their controller's. In addition, life force can be stolen from the victim, and transferred to the controller of the bond, strengthening them and weakening the other."

"And Vader did this to my mother?" Leia interrupted, feeling sick.

Obi-Wan grimaced and shrugged slightly. "From examining Padmé's behaviour changes, and using Flow Walking, I believe so, though I have no definite proof. She initially refused his advances, and the woman I knew would never have comforted a person who had just committed genocide, no matter what the circumstances. That she suddenly changed so much," he shrugged. "It's the only thing that makes sense to me."

Leia looked at her feet. "Does my being the child of a Sith Lord mean," she began to ask, but Obi-Wan swiftly cut her off.

"You are pure Light, Leia," he insisted, making as if to grab her shoulders and stopping just before touching her. "I swear to you. And I never once feared that you would Fall."

"Turn," Leia corrected, still deep in thought. Obi-Wan gave her his patented teacher look, silently demanding that she explain her rational. "Falling is something that you do by accident. But people know what they're doing when they join the Dark Side. Even if they're being coerced in some way, it's still their decision, and they must acknowledge those actions and their consequences."

He gave her an approving nod. "You are an excellent Jedi, my dear," he told her lovingly. "Your parents, all of them, would be so very proud of them."

Leia gave him a shimmery-eyed look. "Did she love me, even though Vader-?"

"With all her heart," Obi-Wan assured him. "Her last breath was spent begging me to keep you safe from Vader and Palpatine. She was a strong woman, with passive sensitivity. When Vader told her what he had done, she rejected his actions. She tried to convince him to come back to the Light, but he refused to listen," Obi-Wan explained heavily. "He choked her before I could intervene, sending her into premature labour. She died from a combination of the injuries, and, I suspect, from him using the bond to help himself survive his own injuries from our battle. But, Leia. No matter what, never doubt that both of your mothers, and Darred, your  _true_  father, loved you."

He looked at her, seeing that she was listening intently, clutching the necklace her mama Sola had given to her, and continued.

"To be a true Jedi, Leia, you must confront and then go beyond the Dark Side - the Side that your father couldn't get past. Impatience is the easiest door, as Anakin fell prey to. But, there is a difference between you and him. Anakin was seduced by what he found on the other side of the door, and you have held firm. You're no longer reckless, Leia. You are strong and patient. And now, you must face Darth Vader again!"

"I don't know if I can kill him," Leia whispered. "Not without letting my anger at everything he's done get the best of me."

"Then the Emperor has already won," Obi-Wan stated simply. It hurt him to put such pressure on the shoulders of the girl he considered his own, but he knew he had no other choice. "You are our only hope."

"Yoda said that there is another Skywalker."

"The other he spoke of is your twin brother."

"But I don't have a brother!" Leia objected automatically. Except, that wasn't quite true, was it? she realized, a man's face appearing in her mind's eye.

"To protect you both from the Emperor, you were hidden from your father when you were born," Obi-Wan explained. "The Emperor knew, as I did, if Anakin were to have any offspring, they would be a threat to him. That is the reason why your brother remains safely anonymous."

"Luke is my brother." It was a statement of fact, not a question, and it made the dead teacher smile proudly at his pupil's intelligence.

"Your insight serves you well," he complimented her. "Release your feelings into the Force, Leia. They do you credit. But they could be made to serve the Emperor."

Leia looked into the distance, trying to comprehend everything she had been told. "Vader would kill him, if Luke went up against him," she murmured.

Obi-Wan nodded in agreement. "Bail Organa was a trusted friend of both Padmé, and myself. We went through many things together during the Clone Wars, as he and Padmé were both very active defenders of the Republic, and when Order 66 went out, and Padmé went into labour, he helped us hide. He raised Luke as his own, and Luke followed in the footsteps of both Bail and Padmé, as you well know.

But he hasn't been trained in the ways of the Jedi the way you have, Leia, though the Force is strong with him, as it is with all of your family. There is no avoiding the battle. You must face and destroy Vader!"


	7. Planning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Rebels plan their assault on the new Death Star.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. To** **w. jr, thank you very much for your compliment. There are real differences both socially (as a result of nurture) and physically (as a result of nature) between men and women. I want to show that different genders would have genuine effects on how the protagonist approaches their obstacles, and I'm glad I seem to be succeeding. I hope that you (and my other readers) continue to enjoy the story.**

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

**Planning the Attack**

_**Rebel Alliance HQ** _

The vast Rebel Fleet stretched as far as the eye could see. Overhead a dozen small Corellian battleships flew in formation. Fighters and battlecruisers surrounded the largest of the Rebel Star Cruisers, the frigate that they used as the Rebellion's headquarters.

Inside the frigate, the main briefing room was packed with hundreds of Rebel commanders of all races and forms.

In the centre of the room was a holographic model depicting the half-completed Imperial Death Star, the nearby Moon of Endor, and the deflector shield that was protecting the space station.

Mon Mothma, dressed in her typical white robes with the long silver pendant that depicted her status on her homeworld, swooped elegantly into the room. Despite being only in her mid-fifties, barely middle-aged for a human, she looked old and worn beyond her years, despite her straight back and even expression. Her many years as a war leader and the recent loss of her son Jobin in the Battle of Echo Base had aged her.

Conferring quietly with her as they walked into the room were several other leaders of the Alliance, including General Madine and Admiral Ackbar. General Hera Syndulla walked silently beside them, her crotchety old C1 droid at her heels and a deep frown of contemplation on her face. Her arms were crossed just under her breasts, and her lekku twitched in obvious distress at whatever thoughts were running through her mind.

Lando pushed through the crowd until he finally located Han and Chewie, standing next to Luke, Neena and the two droids.

Han peered at Lando's new insignia on his chest, and smirked in amusement. "Well, look at you, a general, huh?" he chuckled.

"Oh, well, I suppose that someone must have told them about my little maneuver at the battle of Taanab," Lando replied, faking modesty and fooling nobody. He was proud of his new rank.

"Well, don't look at me, pal," Han answered in a sarcastic tone of voice. "I just said that you were a fair pilot. I didn't know they were lookin' for somebody to lead this crazy attack."

"I'm surprised they didn't ask you to do it," Lando smiled cheerfully at his friend.

"Well, who says they didn't?" Han asked. "But I ain't a kriffin' lunatic. You're the respectable one here, remember?"

Mon Mothma signalled for attention, and everybody in the room fell respectfully silent.

The former Senator wasted no time with any small talk, simply getting right down to the point of the meeting. "The Emperor has made a critical error and the time for our attack has come at last," she announced, her declaration causing a loud stir through the gathered freedom fighters.

Mon Mothma turned to the holographic model of the Death Star, the Endor moon and the protecting deflector shield in the centre of the room. "The data brought to us by the Bothan spies pinpoints the exact location of the Emperor's new battle station," she explained, gesturing to the projection as she spoke. "We also know that the weapon systems of this Death Star are not yet operational. With the Imperial Fleet spread throughout the galaxy in a vain effort to engage us and reclaim Lothal and Mandalore, not to mention its' attacks on Lira San, it is relatively unprotected. But most importantly of all, we've learned that the Emperor himself is personally overseeing the final stages of the construction of this Death Star."

A volley of spirited chatter erupted from the crowd at the shocking announcement.

Assassination attempt after assassination attempt on both the Emperor and Vader had ended in miserable failure, with horrific consequences for the unfortunate assassin. And, because Imperial Centre was so heavily protected, it was impossible to launch a large-scale attack to try to take him out. And Palpatine had not left Imperial Centre since the earliest days of the Empire, when the galaxy was still reeling from the Clone Wars and the loss of the Jedi (not that they weren't still), and before the citizens had begun to understand that Palpatine was their oppressor, not their saviour. If he was really so undefended, then the Rebellion had just received their first _real_ chance to take him out.

Han exchanged wide-eyed looks with Luke and Neena as Chewie barked his amazement.

"Many Bothans died to bring us this information," Mon Mothma continued, before turning to the salmon-coloured Mon Calamari standing silently at her side. "Admiral Ackbar, if you would please explain the plan of attack."

Admiral Ackbar stepped forward and jabbed at the image of the Death Star's force field and the Moon of Endor.

"You can see here the Death Star orbiting the forest Moon of Endor," he stated gruffly, in a voice damaged from years of wearing a shock collar. Ackbar had been active in the Clone Wars, before being made into a slave for Tarkin for years. An attack by the Rebels had freed him, and he was one of their best and most loyal members. He was also very close to Princess Winter Organa, despite their considerable age difference.  _"He's the only one who can make me smile, nowadays,"_  she had told her brother, two years after their planet's destruction.

In another life, perhaps Luke would have been the type of brother to glare at and threaten his sister's suitors. Especially one forty years older than her. But that was not that life. In this life, he could only be grateful she was alive to have suitors at all. And he knew that he owed her life to Ackbar for helping to smuggle her to safety the day of Alderaan's destruction.

"Although the weapon systems on this Death Star are not yet operational, the Death Star does have a strong defence mechanism," the Admiral went on. "It is protected by an energy shield, which is generated from the nearby forest Moon of Endor. The shield must be deactivated if any attack is to be attempted. Once the shield is down, our cruisers will create a perimeter, while the fighters fly into the superstructure and attempt to knock out the main reactor."

There was a concerned murmur from the listening crowd at his plan, but no one interrupted, allowing him to continue.

"General Calrissian has volunteered to lead the fighter attack on the Death Star."

Han turned to Lando with a look of respect.

"Good luck," he said, his voice sincere for once. For all their problems, Lando was a good friend, and he'd gotten involved in the Alliance because of Han. Han didn't want anything to happen to the other man. Lando nodded in thanks.

"You're gonna need it," Han finished as Ackbar gave the reigns over to General Madine and the General moved to centre stage.

"We have stolen a small Imperial shuttle," Madine informed the assembly. "Disguised as a cargo ship, and using a secret Imperial code, a strike team will land on the moon and deactivate the shield generator."

The assembly began to mumble among themselves again.

"This all sounds terribly dangerous," Threepio commented.

"I wonder who they found to pull that off," Luke muttered to his lover and friend just as General Madine turned to their group.

"General Solo, is your strike team assembled?" He asked, startling Luke and Neena, who both looked at Han in unison, before their surprise quickly changed to admiration.

"Uh, my team's ready," Han replied, shifting uncomfortably and wishing that Leia was there. He'd've liked to have had more time with her, because he didn't doubt that this was a suicide mission. "I don't have a command crew for the shuttle."

Without pausing, Chewbacca raised his hairy paw and volunteered. Han looked up at him.

"Well, it's gonna be rough, pal," he said to his old friend. "I didn't want to speak for you."

Chewie waved that off with a huge growl, making Han grin widely.

"That's one," he told the smirking rebel leaders, noticing the pained glint in Hera's eye at their interactions with sympathy. Everybody knew of the Spectres' tragic ending. The crewmembers of the Millennium Falcon knew better than most, as Leia still occasionally wept over her lost friend and Padawan-brother.

"Uh, General... count me in," Luke added.

"Us," Neena corrected him. "Count  _us_  in."

"Let's bring that count up to five, shall we?" a cheerful voice called from the doorway. They turned in that direction and peered into the crowd as there were more cheers. The commanders parted, and there at the back stood Leia, a cheeky grin on her face and her lightsabre dangling casually from her cocked hip.

Within seconds, she and Han were embracing, his hands entangled in her hair, that came undone under his attention. After they separated, Neena, and then Luke also gave her warm hugs.

Looking into her eyes, Luke sensed a change in his best friend and he gave her a questioning look. "What is it?" he asked her lowly.

"Ask me again later," Leia muttered back, avoiding his gaze. She had absolutely no idea how to confess to him that they were siblings, let alone twins. For that matter, did Luke even know that he had been adopted?

The army leaders dismissed the gathering to prepare for the coming assault, while Han, Chewie, Neena and Lando all crowded around the young Jedi as the assembly broke up.

As the group chatted, all of them were trying to hide their worry and dread from their friends, to be brave for each other. Wanting to hold her, after far too much separation for his tastes, Han wrapped his arms around Leia's front so that she was leaning back against his chest, and she locked her own arms loosely around his neck while Artoo beeped a singsong observation to a worried Threepio.

"'Exciting' is hardly the word I would use," the gold protocol droid sniffed.

* * *

_**Rebel HQ Docking Bay** _

The  _Millennium Falcon_  rested in the Alliance docking bay, just beyond the stolen Imperial Shuttle, which stood out among all the Rebel ships in the vast docking bay. The shuttle was plain and grey, like all Imperial ships, whilst the Rebel ships were all brightly coloured. Most of them had a Phoenix (the symbol of the Rebellion, courtesy of Sabine Wren) symbol painted on their sides.

Chewie barked a final farewell to Lando before he led Artoo and Threepio up the ramp into the waiting shuttle. Said shuttle was now crowded with the members of the Rebel strike team loading weapons and supplies. Lando and Han stood at the bottom, facing each other silently.

Forcing a smile that didn't reach his eyes, Lando reached out to clap a hand on Han's shoulder. The others had all said their good-byes already and were starting up the ramp.

Han inhaled deeply and met his friend's eyes seriously. Lando's fake grin faded away into a solemn expression. His arm fell down to hang uselessly by his side.

"Look," Han said grimly. "I want you to take her. I mean it. Take her. You need all the help you can get. She's the fastest ship in the fleet."

"All right, old buddy." Lando swallowed heavily. "You know, I know what she means to you. I'll take good care of her. She-she won't get a scratch. All right?"

Han looked at him warmly. "Right," he agreed. "I got your promise now. Not a scratch."

"Look, would you just get going, you low-life pirate?" Lando huffed. The two former-smugglers paused, then exchanged salutes. "Good luck," Lando told him lowly.

"You, too," Han replied, jaw set tightly. He turned away without another word and walked briskly up the ramp. Lando stayed in place and watched him go out of sight he too slowly turned away, heading to finish his preparations for the upcoming attack.


	8. Sensing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leia and Vader sense each other.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.**

**Chapter Eight**

**Force Sensing**

_**Rebel HQ: Stolen Imperial Shuttle** _

Leia was working on a control panel in the back when Han came in and took his place in the pilot's seat. Chewie, in the seat next to him, was trying to figure out all the Imperial controls, growling in frustration at the overly-complicated system.

"You got her warmed up?" Han asked over his shoulder, resisting the urge to pull the love of his life into a tight embrace and never let her go. They could do that later, after the mission. More motivation for them both to live through it.

"Yeah, she's comin' up," Leia replied as she replaced the panel, straightening and heading over to drape herself over Han's seat. He reached up and clasped her wrist, savouring the feeling of love she projected to him through the Force-bond that they had shared for four years. A simple bond, but one they both deeply treasured. Han had been uncomfortable with it at first, but he had quickly grown to love the small sense of Leia in the back of his mind, reminding him that she loved him, and trusted him, and always would. And, of course, that she was safe. That was the best part of it, no doubt about it.

Chewie growled a complaint, distracting them from their silent exchange of love and drawing their attention back to the mission.

"No," Han replied dryly to his co-pilot. "I don't think that the Empire had Wookiees in mind when they designed her, Chewie. Y'know, considering they only use Wookiees as slaves, not as shuttle pilots."

Chewie growled and reached over to thump his friend around the ear just as Neena and Luke entered from the hold and sat down together on the seat just beside Leia, who had separated from Han and taken her own seat. The two whispered softly to each other, Luke playing with a ring on Neena's left hand. The stone was one of the few remaining Alderaanian fire-heartstones, which had been rare even before the destruction.

They had quickly exchanged vows with each other several months before, with Lor San Tekka ordaining as a Priest of the Church of the Force, and Leia and Winter as their witness. They often said that they would redo their wedding after the war was over, but it was a comfort to them both to have married before then, just in case.

Leia and Han, however, were different people. Free spirits, in their own ways. They loved each other, and they were Force-bonded, and neither of them needed a piece of jewellery or a certificate to reassure each other of that. Several years of fighting together had forged a far stronger bond then any sheet of flimsy could ever manage.

The Jedi had a distant expression on her face as she stared at the wall, her brow crinkled in concentration as she attempted to see the most-likely outcome of the mission. Despite her best efforts, however, she was unable to see through the thickness cloud of Darkness that covered both Endor and the half-built Death Star. But even just the fact that she couldn't catch a glimpse of the planet or space station through her Force-sense caused worry to rise, and she switched to a light meditation, hoping to release her own negative emotions into the Force. This was the best chance that she would ever get to kill Palpatine and Vader, possibly the only chance, and she needed to be as deeply entrenched in the Light as possible in order to defeat the Sith without succumbing to her own Darkness.

Chewie barked and hit some more switches. They felt the shuttle begin to shudder as he finally managed to kickstart the engines.

Han, meanwhile, took a glance out the window, feeling his heart fall as his gaze fixed on the  _Millennium Falcon_.

Leia, sensing his unhappiness, snapped out of her meditation and leaned over to rest her hand on his knee. "Han? Is everything alright?" she asked him softly.

He turned to her, forcing a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Yeah, I just got a funny feeling. Like I'm not gonna see her again."

Chewie, hearing Han's grim prediction, stopped his activities and also turned to look longingly out at the  _Falcon_.

"You will," Leia whispered to him, squeezing his knee and pouring feelings of hope and triumph and love at him through the bond. "I promise you, Han. You'll see the  _Falcon_  again. This is not the end. For any of us." Her voice echoed slightly, and they all straightened their backs in response to her power-filled words.

Like the others, Han too snapped back to life. "Right," he agreed with a strong nod, switching into 'General' mode. "Chewie, let's see what this piece of junk can do. Ready, everybody?"

"All set," Leia called, after a quick glance at the readings beside her.

"We're ready, General," Neena announced, smirking mischievously as she said his new title.

"Here we go again," Threepio moaned, throwing up his hands in despair as Artoo beeped his own preparedness. Chewie grunted, nodding confidently.

"All right then," Han muttered, bending over the control panel. "Everybody, hang on."

Under the general's control, the stolen Imperial shuttle left the main docking bay of the Alliance Headquarters, lowered its' wings into flight position, and zoomed off into space.

* * *

_**Super Star Destroyer, Executor** _

The converted control room was dimly lit, save for a pool of light at the far end. There the Emperor sat in an elaborate control chair before a large window which looked out across the half-completed Death Star to the giant green moon of Endor.

Darth Vader, standing with several other members of the Imperial council, cautiously approached his master.

The ruler's back was to him. Beneath his mask, Vader felt his distorted jaw clench in anger at his master's indifference to him. Everybody else cowered in terror at the sight of Vader and his awe-inspiring power, but not the Emperor. To the Emperor, Vader was nothing more a tool, a powerful tool, yes. But still just a tool. Still replaceable. The Sith Apprentice loathed feeling like a tool more than anything.

He tried to reassure himself with the reminder that it wouldn't be much longer. Soon enough, he, with his daughter by his side, would destroy the Emperor, and rule the galaxy together. Or, if she continued to defy him and the Dark, he would simply kill them both and take the galaxy for himself. It hardly mattered, as long as he kept his power.

Finally, after several moments, the Emperor's chair rotated around to face him.

"What is thy bidding, my Master?" Vader asked with a deep bow.

"Send the fleet to the far side of Endor," the Emperor ordered his servant. "There it will stay until called for."

"What of the reports of the Rebel fleet massing near Sullust?" Vader asked, careful to keep his tone submissive and avoid invoking Palpatine's wrath.

"It is of no concern," Sidious dismissed the question with an indifferent wave. "Soon the Rebellion will be crushed and young Naberrie will be one of us! Your work here is finished, my friend. Go out to the command ship and await my orders."

"Yes, my Master," Vader agreed as he bowed, before he rose to turn and exit the throne room. At the same time, the Emperor stood and walked toward the waiting council members, his cane echoing each time it came down on the cold, metal floor.

The councillors shivered and went to their knees as he approached. With his hood covering his face, no one noticed the cruel smirk that twisted Palpatine's face into an even more horrific and disgusting sight then before.

* * *

_**Stolen Imperial Shuttle** _

There was a great deal of Imperial traffic in the area as construction proceeded on the Death Star. Transports, TIE fighters, and a few Star Destroyers moved about, further congesting the area.

Inside the cockpit of their shuttle, Han looked back at his three human friends while Chewie flipped several switches.

Through the viewscreen, the Death Star and the huge Super Star Destroyer can be seen.

"If they don't go for this, we're gonna have to get outta here pretty quick, Chewie," Han predicted grimly, a grimace on his face.

Chewie growled his agreement.

"We have you on our screen now," a controller's voice came over their radio. "Please identify your craft."

Casting a quick look at his friends, Han pressed the comlink. "This is the Imperial shuttle Tydirium requesting deactivation of the deflector shield," he replied, shoulders tense, though his tone was even.

"Shuttle Tydirium, transmit the clearance code for shield passage," the controller answered in the typical emotionless voice of the Imperial regime.

Neena began pressing buttons, inputting the code that several of her friends had died to steal and get to the Rebellion. They could only hope that the Empire hadn't deactivated it, or attached an alert to it.

"Transmision commencing," Han informed the controller as she finished and pressed the button to send it.

The others all listened tensely as the sound of a high-speed transmission began.

"Now we find out if that code is worth the price we paid," Luke whispered.

"It was worth it," Neena insisted, clenching her hands into fists. "It  _has_  to be worth it."

"It'll work," Han said at the same time. "It'll work."

Leia, her eyes shut tightly closed as she worked to shield their group from the senses of the two (far-stronger than her) Dark Siders she could tell were on the Death Star, reached out to touch her brother gently, but said nothing. A trickle of sweat leaked down the side of her forehead, and she panted lightly under her breath. The Darkness here was so strong, she could barely think.

She was used to feeling Darkness. It surrounded everything nowadays. She and Ezra had often wondered what it must have been like growing up in the Republic, before the Sith had gotten so strong, muffling the Light until it was nothing more than a few specks of candle-light, trying to hold off a dark eclipse.

Vader's familiar and vile presence made her ill. Like always, it was twisted and filled with barely-controlled anger and hatred. How had Padmé Amidala, supposedly a pacifist who abhorred tyranny, fallen in love with him? Up until now, Vader had been the worst presence that Leia had ever sensed in her life.

But that was before sensing Palpatine. She had never sensed a presence as awful and corrupt as that of Darth Sidious. Even from here, she could feel her stomach twisting at his raw Darkness. It seemed utterly inconceivable that the entire Jedi Council had failed to recognize him when he stared them in the eyes. How could he have ever hidden it from anybody? Surely even a non-sensitive would be able to feel the vileness and evil that radiated from him so strongly.

The fact that she hadn't even come face-to-face with him yet, and she was already overwhelmed by his strength and evil aura, was only increasing her worry. A metallic taste in her mouth made her realize that she had bitten her tongue, and it was now bleeding lightly. Quickly, she directed a thin thread of Force-healing to fix it, not realizing that her grip on her Force-stealth had slipped. It was only for a second, but a second was long enough.

Chewie whined nervously as they continued to wait to learn whether or not their play was being believed by the Imperials or not.

Leia opened her eyes and turned to stare out at the mega-sized Super Star Destroyer that loomed ever larger before them. It seemed to suck in all the fragments of Light that dared to spark near to it, and quickly stifle them.  _There_ , she thought.

"They're on that ship," she murmured to her companions, who flashed quick frowns at her.

"Who's on the Destroyer?" Neena asked worriedly, leaning towards her.

She didn't have as much personal experience with the Jedi as others did, but she had enough, not to mention all of the stories that she'd heard, that she knew to take every strange word out of Leia's mouth with extreme seriousness.

"Vader and the Emperor," Leia breathed, her eyes wide and glued to the Super Star Destroyer. The others all paled and went tense at the revelation.

Han forced a fake grin. "Now don't go getting' jittery, Leia love," he told her, reaching out to grasp at her fingers lightly. "There are a lot of command ships. Keep your distance though, Chewie, but don't let it look like you're trying to keep your distance."

Chewie barked a question.

"I don't know," Han snapped in reply, his own anxiety leaking through. "Fly casual."

"I shouldn't have come," Leia murmured, still only half-present in the cockpit. "I'm endangering the mission."

"It's your imagination, Sunshine," Han insisted, using the nickname he had bestowed on her when they had first met in a canteen in Tattooine. "Come on. Let's keep a little optimism here."

Despite Han's pleas, Chewie grumbled his concerns as the Super Star Destroyer steadily grew larger out the window.

* * *

_**The Super Star Destroyer, Executor** _

On board the bridge of the Executor, Lord Vader stood, his back to the workers, staring out of a window at the Death Star.

Now, some vibration felt only by him caused him to turn. After a moment of stillness, he walked down the row of controllers to where Admiral Piett was leaning over the tracking screen of the controller that was in contact with Tydirium. Piett straightened at Vader's approach.

"My lord?"

"Where is that shuttle going?" Vader demanded.

"Shuttle Tydirium, what is your cargo and destination?" Piett snapped into the comlink.

"Parts and technical crew for the forest moon," the filtered voice of the pilot, Han, replied smoothly, without any apparent hesitation or concern.

The Bridge Commander looked to Vader for a reaction.

"Do they have a code clearance?" he asked.

"It's an older code, sir, but it checks out," Piett explained. "I was about to clear them."

Vader looked upward, as he sensed Leia's presence. she was doing well in hiding herself and her friends from him, but she had slipped momentarily, revealing herself.

"Shall I hold them?" Piett asked his commander warily.

Vader shook his head, spinning to stalk away as he answered. "No. Leave them to me. I will deal with them myself."

Piett was surprised as he acquiesced. "As you wish, my lord." He turned to glare at the controller. "Carry on."


	9. Scouts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Rebels land on Endor.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. I know these past few chapters have been a lot like the movies, but I promise changes are coming, just hang on until these fillers are done, please!**

**Chapter Nine**

**Chasing Scouts**

_**Space-Endor** _

Back in the cockpit of the stolen shuttle, the group of Rebels waited in a tense silence.

"They're not goin' for it, Chewie," Han whispered to his co-pilot, who grunted back at him, reaching out to the controls again.

Just as the Wookiee's paws touched the buttons of the control panel, the filtered voice of the controller came over the comlink again.

"Shuttle Tydirium, deactivation of the shield will commence immediately," he announced. "Follow your present course."

Everyone let out sighs of relief at the words, relaxing. Everyone save for Leia, who still looked worried, running her thumb over her lightsabre hilt worriedly. Chewie barked.

"Okay!" Han cheered, as he began directing the shuttle towards the small green planet. "I told you it was gonna work. No problem."

Neena scoffed at his lie, reaching over to cuff him across the head. It wasn't very funny, but it still made the three non-Jedi humans break out into a series of hysterical laughter, tension still lining their backs. Leia didn't join them, her lids half-shut as she continued to try and block the Sith from noticing the actions of their group. Still chuckling, Han and Chewie began guiding their shuttle to the planet below them.

They landed the shuttle in a pre-selected clearing of the moon's dark, primeval forest, dwarfed by the ancient towering trees. After gathering their supplies, the helmeted Rebel contingent began to make its' way up a steep trail on an adjacent hill.

Leia and Han were slightly ahead of Chewie, who was beside Luke and Neena. All of them had their weapons out and at the ready, no traces of amusement, hysterical or otherwise, to be seen on their tense, battle-ready expressions. The troops of the strike-team squad followed, with Artoo and Threepio bringing up the rear.

Artoo beeped quietly, but loud enough to be heard. Up ahead, Chewie, Neena and Luke had reached a crest in the hill and dropped suddenly to the ground. Neena subtly held up her hand to make a signal, silently telling the rest of the group to stop.

Han and Leia crawled up to take a look.

"Oh, I told you it was dangerous here," Threepio moaned in distress.

Neena glared at the droid, reaching over to slam a hand over his mouth. She leaned over to whisper in his ear. "Stay quiet, or I'll use you for scrap metal, got it?"

Looking fearful, the golden protocol droid gave an urgent nod, shying away from the Rebel. Satisfied, Neena returned her attention to the scene they were watching.

Not far below them, two Imperial Scouts were wandering through bushes in the valley below. Their two rocket bikes were parked nearby.

"Shall we try and go around?" Luke suggested in a soft voice.

"It'll take time," Han shook his head. "This whole party'll be for nothing if they see us."

"We have to take them out," Leia decided. She gave a series of hand-signals to the rest of their party, motioning for them to stay put, then she, Han, Luke, Neena and Chewie all started to quietly make their way down.

The five friends subtly made their way to the edge of the clearing not far from where the two Imperial scouts were.

"Chewie and I will take care of this," Han muttered to the others. "You three stay here."

"Quietly," Leia insisted. "There might be more of them out there."

Han grinned brightly at her. "Hey," he said reasonably. "it's me." Leia grimaced, resigning herself to a loud mess of events, and braced herself to intercede when she was needed.

Meanwhile, Han and Chewie turned and started through the bushes towards the scouts. Despite their worry, Luke and Leia exchanged smiles. Neena bit her lip to keep her snickers from escaping as she watched.

"Like a Corellian action holo," she muttered to her husband and friend as they watched Han sneak up behind one of the scouts with an almost comedic air around him.

Up until then, he had been unseen and unheard, proving that he was a former smuggler of reasonable success. Then, he stepped on a twig, causing it to crack loudly.

At the sound of the twig breaking, the scout whirled, kicking out and knocking Han into a tree. The scout shouted for his companion. "Go for help!" he yelled. "Go!"

The second scout jumped on his speeder bike and took off, but Chewie shot after him with his crossbow laser weapon, causing the scout to crash into a tree. Han and the first scout were in a rousing fistfight, seeming to be evenly matched in fighting prowess. Han, however, had much more experience in street fighting, and quickly began to take the lead in the fight.

"Great," Leia drawled sarcastically, rolling her eyes at her lover's actions. "Come on."

She made her way to the scuffle, followed by Luke and Neena with their laser pistols raised. As they ran through the bushes, Luke stopped and pointed to where two more scouts were sitting on their speeder bikes, with an unoccupied bike parked nearby.

"Over there!" he warned the others. "Two more of them!"

"I see them," Leia promised. "Wait, Luke!"

"Luke don't," Neena added urgently. But Luke didn't hear the others' warnings, and he raced for the remaining speeder bike. He started it up and took off as the others jumped on the bike behind him.

"Leia, their coms!" Neena warned urgently. "The centre switch! Do something!"

Even as Neena called out to her, Leia was using the Force to brutally yank the communicators out of the bike, rendering them useless.

The three rebels continued to speed into the dense foliage in hot pursuit of their enemies, barely avoiding two huge trees.

"Hey, wait!" Han yelled after them. "Ahhh!" Swearing violently in Huttese, he flipped the remaining scout to the ground.

The two fleeing Imperial scouts had a good lead as the rebels pursued them through the giant trees at 200 miles an hour. Neena controlled the gun, but the fire from their bike's laser cannon simply hit harmlessly near the moving targets.

"Move closer!" Leia ordered.

Luke nodded and gunned it, closing the gap, as the two scouts recklessly veered through a narrow gap in the trees. One of the bikes scraped a tree, slowing the scout.

"Get alongside that one!" Leia bellowed, pointing at him urgently. Neena used her gun to shoot at the scout, blocking him from escaping while Luke pulled their speeder bike up so close to the scout's bike that their steering vanes banged against each other noisily.

Leia leaped like a gymnast from her bike to the back of the scout's, grabbed the Imperial warrior around the neck, and flipped him off the bike with Force-caused strength, into a thick tree trunk. She swiftly gained control of the bike and chased after the others, who had pulled ahead. Together, they tore off after the remaining scout.

"Get him!" Leia urged. She was holding out a hand, trying to Force the bike into a crash, when they passed two more Imperial Scouts. Without pausing, the two swung into pursuit, chasing after the rebels while they fired away with their laser cannon. The Rebels looked behind themselves just as Leia's bike took a glancing hit.

"Keep on that one!" Leia called to her friends, indicating the one ahead of them. "I'll take these two!" They nodded and gunned it.

With the others shooting ahead, Leia suddenly slammed her steering vanes into the braking mode. Her bike was a blur to the two pursuing scouts as they zipped by her on either side. Leia then slammed her bike into forward and started firing away, having switched places with her pursuers in a manner of seconds. She raised her blaster, pointing it at the scouts carefully.

Her Force-aided aim was perfect and one scout's bike was blasted out of control. It exploded against a tree trunk.

The scout's cohort took one glance back at the flash and shifted into turbo drive, going even faster. Leia let go of the bike and raised her hands, an almost tranquil expression on her face as she used the Force to grab the bike and force it into a stop. Instinct caused her to start huffing slightly as she lifted the bike and flung it, and its' pilot, into another tree, where it too exploded.

Regret and sorrow flashed over Leia's face for a brief moment before she pushed it away and bent low over her bike to begin speeding away from the carnage.

* * *

_**Endor** _

Far ahead, Luke, Neena and the first scout were doing a highspeed slalom through the death-dealing trunks.

The two spouses exchanged quick looks, a plan forming between them in a single instant, before Luke aimed their bike skyward and rose out of sight.

The scout turned in confusion, unable to see his pursuers. Suddenly, Luke dived down upon him from above, cannon blasting away under Neena's control. The scout's bike took a glancing hit, making him swear.

Luke moved in alongside the scout. The Imperial eyed him beside him, reached down, and pulled out a handgun. Before either Luke or Neena could react, the scout had blasted their bike, sending it out of control.

Neena grabbed her husband and pulled him along with her as she flung herself off the bike, seconds before it exploded against a tree.

The happy scout looked back at the explosion, assuming that the two rebels had perished in the explosion. But when he turned forward again, he was on a collision course with a giant fallen tree. He was so distracted by it that he didn't notice a soft thud as a small blast hit the side of his bike, nor would he have been in time to fix the damage caused if he had noticed.

As the tree came closer, he frantically hit his brakes to try and stop the incoming collision. But his efforts were to no avail and he slammed headfirst into the tree, the impact turning his vehicle into a tall pillar of flames and smoke.

Neena lowered her gun from where she had lifted it to shoot out the scout's breaks. She rolled over, giving a tired smile to Luke. He gave her a smile back, blood coating his head from where he'd hit it when they jumped, and they leaned in to press their lips together.

"I love you," Luke breathed to her.

Neena curled closer, savouring the feeling of his arms around her as she felt her consciousness fade away.

She was no Jedi, but she felt as if they were all on the edge of a pivotal moment in time. The fate of the galaxy hung in the air, and Neena feared that the scales would fall on the side of the Sith.

* * *

_**Endor** _

Back in the campsite where they had first encountered the Imperial scouts, Han, Chewie, and the droids, along with the rest of the squad, waited anxiously for the others' return.

Artoo's radar screen stuck out of his domed head and revolved continually, scanning the forest. Eventually, he let out a loud beep, making everybody jump in surprise.

"Oh, General Solo, somebody's coming!" Threepio announced, batting his hands. "Oh!"

Han, Chewie, and the rest of the squad raised their weapons, preparing for another fight. A second late, Leia, bleeding from a cut on her cheek and with bruises forming in various places, stepped out of the foliage to find the weapons trained on her.

"Leia!" Han cried at the sight of her. He rushed over, tugging her into his arms, and she went willingly. They kissed deeply, only pulling away when they needed to take in some air. She sighed in relief as she laid her head on his chest, leaning on him heavily for support and closing her eyes.

"Are you alright?" Han demanded. "What happened? The scouts-"

"Dealt with," Leia replied. Then something hit her, and she pulled away to scan the room urgently. "Where're Luke and Neena?"

"They aren't back yet," Han answered grimly. "What happened, Leia? I thought they were with you."

"We got separated," she explained vaguely, frowning deeply. The two exchanged a silent, grim look. Leia's weariness was obvious as she straightened up and brushed herself down.

"We need to find them," she muttered. Han nodded in agreement and signalled to another Rebel officer.

"Take the squad ahead," he instructed the Rodian briskly. "We'll meet you at the shield generator at 0300."

"Come on, Artoo," Leia told her droid. "We'll need your scanners. Threepio, are you coming with us?"

Leia, Chewie, Han, and the droids moved off in the direction they had chased the scouts as the squad headed in the opposite way, going for the generator.

"Don't worry, Mistress Leia," Threepio said cheerfully. "We know what to do."

Leia ignored him as they moved off into the woods. "And you said it was pretty here," Threepio muttered scornfully to Artoo. "Ugh!"


	10. Ewok Intro

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke and Neena meet an Ewok, and Vader reports to the Emperor.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.**

**Chapter Ten**

**Introduction of the Ewoks**

_**Endor** _

An Ewok (a member of the native species of Endor) by the name of Wicket crept slowly towards the pair that lay entangled on the grass of the clearing, both of them unconscious. Puzzled, Wicket reached out, and prodded Luke with his spear.

The prince groaned, frightening the stubby ball of fuzz and causing him to prod him again.

Now awake, Luke sat up and stared at the three-foot-high Ewok. His movement caused Neena to stir, and she too pushed herself into a sitting position, groaning and rubbing her sore head.

Looking around, Luke tried to figure out where they were and what had happened. Their clothes were torn and they were both bruised and dishevelled.

"What happened?" he muttered softly to his wife while eyeing the teddy bear-like creature warily. It looked harmless enough, but you never knew. It had put down the spear, at least, and was simply watching them with its' head cocked to the side.

"Chased a scout, 'member?" Neena mumbled back, her head pounding. She had spoken just a fraction too loudly, and the sound of her voice startled the Ewok.

Wicket jumped up and grabbed his four-foot-long spear again, which he held out in a defensive position. They watched him as he circled them warily and began poking them with the sharp point of the spear.

"Ouch!" Neena cried as the point jabbed one of her bruises.

"Cut it out!" Luke snapped. He stood up, and the Ewok quickly backed away.

"We're not gonna hurt you," Luke told it.

"Speak for yourself," Neena grumbled under her breath, even as she raised her hands into a 'peace' gesture.

Luke ignored her and looked around at the dense forest, and at the charred remains of their speeder bike, then sat down on a fallen log with a sigh. Neena wandered over and sat down beside him, resting her head on his shoulder and linking their hands together.

"Well, it looks like we're stuck here," Luke announced glumly. "Trouble is, I don't know where here is."

"Me either," Neena grimaced. "And my compass is broken. But we aren't out of options just yet." She gave him a pointed look, then jerked her head at the watchful little Ewok.

Luke frowned at her for a moment as he considered her suggestion before he nodded and turned to the Ewok while patting the log on the side of him opposite to Neena.

"Well, maybe you can help us," he said to the small creature. "Come on, sit down."

Wicket held his spear up warily and growled at them like a puppy.

Luke patted the log again. "I promise that neither of us will hurt you," he told the Ewok firmly. "Now come here." Neena squeezed his hand, silently urging him to stay patient.

More growls and squeaks emitted from the little bear creature, and the two grimaced at each other, at a loss as to how to even begin translating the noises into Basic.

"All right," Luke tried another track, one universal to all sentients. "You want something to eat?" He took a small nutrition bar out of his pocket and offered it to him.

Wicket took a step backward, then cocked his head and moved cautiously towards the pair, still chattering in his squeaky Ewok language.

"That's right," Luke encouraged.

"Come on," Neena added. "It's yummy, I promise. You'll like it."

Sniffing the food curiously, the Ewok came towards Luke and sat on the log beside him. He took off his helmet, and the little creature jumped back, startled again. He ran along the log, pointing his spear at them and chattering a blue streak. Luke held out the helmet to him.

"Look, it's a hat," the prince reassured the small Ewok. "It's not gonna hurt you. Look. You're a jittery little thing, aren't you?"

Reassured, Wicket lowered his spear and climbed back on the log, coming to investigate the helmet. Suddenly his ears perked up and he began to sniff the air. He looked around warily, whispering some Ewokese warning to Luke.

"What is it?" Neena demanded.

Suddenly a laser bolt came out of the foliage and exploded on the log next to her. Wicket, Luke and Neena all rolled backwards off the log, taking cover behind it. The two humans held their own laser guns ready, while Wicket disappeared underneath the log. Another shot, and there was still no sight of anyone in the forest.

Then Luke felt his rudimentary Force senses call a warning and turned to find a large Imperial Scout standing over them with his weapon pointed at Neena's head. Neena, who had copied his actions, froze, her fingers tightening on her gun. The Scout reached out his hand for their weapons.

"Freeze!" he barked. "Come on, get up!"

They exchanged quick looks before they reluctantly handed their weapons over, as a second scout emerged from the foliage in front of the log.

"Go get your ride and take them back to base," the first scout ordered.

"Yes, sir." The second scout saluted and started towards his bike, as Wicket, crouched under the log, extended his spear and hit the first scout on the leg. The scout jumped and let out an exclamation, and looks down at Wicket, puzzled.

Taking advantage of his distraction, Luke grabbed a branch and knocked him out. Neena, meanwhile, dived for his laser pistol, and the second scout, now on his bike, took off. Neena fire after him and yelled triumphantly as she managed to hit the escaping bike, causing it to crash into the first scout's bike, which flew end over end and exploded.

The forest was quiet once more as Wicket poked his fuzzy head up from behind the log and regarded the two humans with new respect. He mumbled his awe as they hurried over, looking around all the time, and Luke motioned the chubby little creature into the dense foliage.

"Come on," Luke urged. "Let's get outta here."

"I'm really sick of forests," Neena groaned as they moved into the foliage, Wicket taking the lead. He shrieked and tugged at their jackets to get them to follow him.

"Calm down," Neena grumbled, rubbing her shoulder as they trudged after him. "We're coming, don't worry."

* * *

_**The Death Star** _

Darth Vader strode proudly down the corridor to the Emperor's Tower and private elevator. One of the Emperor's private guard stepped into his path.

"Halt!" the guard barked, unconcerned that he was angering a Sith Lord. His status as a personal attendant to Palpatine granted him immunity from any crime, and prevented anybody harming him. To do so was seen as a direct attack against the Emperor himself. It gave him an arrogance that irritated Vader considerably.

How dare this Forceless guard give him, the Chosen One, orders? The Dark Lord wondered angrily. Vader would soon show the fool the error of his ways.

"The Emperor does not wish to be disturbed at the moment," the guard continued, oblivious to Vader's vicious thoughts.

Beneath his mask, Vader glowered as he raised his gloved hand to the two guards and began choking them with the Force while forcing their wills to submit to his own.

"The Emperor will see me, now!"

"The Emperor will see you, now," the guard repeated dully, his expression blank. His voice was hoarse from Vader crushing his vocal chords, but his mind was too damaged for him by the sudden and horrific onslaught to even think to rub his throat.

Vader dropped their bodies to the floor in a heap, and stepped over them to enter the elevator, where he stood straight, his mechanical breathing echoing as he clasped his hands behind his back.

Two red-clad Imperial Guards stood watch at the elevator as the door of the elevator opened to reveal Vader.

Vader entered the eerie, foreboding throne room. It appeared to be empty, but his Force-senses told him otherwise. His footsteps echoed as he approached the throne. He waited there, absolutely still.

The Emperor sat with his back to the younger Dark Lord. "I told you to remain on the command ship," he spoke up finally. His anger at being disobeyed permeated the air, making the two guards shudder subtly in their posts at the coldness in the air, though by now they were used to the feeling of malice that surrounded the ruler.

"A small Rebel force has penetrated the shield and landed on Endor," Vader reported.

"Yes, I know," the Emperor confirmed, unsurprised by the news.

"My daughter is with them," Vader added after a beat.

"Are you sure?"

"I have felt her, my Master."

"Strange, that I have not," the Emperor's tone remained cool. "I wonder if your feelings on this matter are clear, Lord Vader."

Vader knew what was being asked. "They are clear, my Master," he promised.

And he meant it, too. He had never really wanted children, that had been Padmé's wish. It was the fact that Leia was  _his_  daughter, more than anything else, that motivated his desire to bring her into the fold of the Dark Side. The fact that she was his daughter and yet would not acknowledge him as her father and superior, angered him greatly. She submit to his will, or she would die. Just like her traitor of a mother had.

"Then you must go to the Sanctuary Moon and wait for them," the Emperor decreed.

"She will come to me?" Vader asked, sceptical that the young Jedi would willingly go to meet with a Sith. Her feelings towards him had been made clear the last time that they had met, a year before in Cloud City.

"I have foreseen it," the Emperor replied icily. "The pathetic compassion of the Jedi will be her undoing. She will come to you and then you will bring her before me for her to choose. Either she will join the Dark Side, or she will die like the rest of her precious Jedi Order."

"As you wish," Vader agreed, bowing to his Master. Straightening up again, the Dark Lord turned and strode back out of the throne room.

* * *

_**Endor** _

Back in the clearing where Neena and Luke had crashed, Han, Leia, Chewie, and the two droids were spread out as they moved through the heavy foliage, searching for their missing friends.

Leia found Luke's helmet and bent down to pick it up with an expression of concern on her tired face.

"Leia!" she heard Han yell. "Leia!"

Quickly, Leia ran with the helmet to where Han had found the charred wreckage of a speeder bike in the grass.

"Oh, Mistress Leia," Threepio moaned as he wrung his hands.

"There's two more wrecked speeders back there," Leia announced grimly, jerking her thumb back towards said crashed speeders. "And I found this." She tossed the helmet to Han, who examined it grimly.

"I'm afraid that Artoo's sensors can find no trace of either Prince Luke, nor Princess-Commander Neena." Threepio told them, sounding apologetic.

"I hope they're alright," Han muttered, brow crinkled in concern.

Leia bit her lip, and reached out to take the helmet back again. "I've never tried this before, but I know the theory of it," she said as he passed it back.

"What?"

"Psychometry," Leia told him. "It's basically just gaining visions from objects. I'll try and find out what happened from the helmet."

Han shrugged. "Well, I don't have any better ideas," he said frankly. "And I've never known you to fail when it comes to the Force. Or anything else, for that matter."

"You're sweet," Leia murmured gently as she gave him a drained smile before closing her eyes and lifting it up to press it to her temple. Images began flashing behind her eyelids at a rapid pace, almost too fast for her to keep up. Finally, after several minutes of watching, she put it down again, sighing softly.

"Well, did it work?" Han asked as she lowered the helmet.

She nodded. "Yes," she informed them. "They got involved in several fights with a couple of scouts, but they're alive and mostly uninjured. Some creature, one the planet's natives I guess, helped them out. They went that way." She pointed in the direction that she had seen Wicket take her brother and sister-in-law (and the fact that she and Luke were twins still stunned her, even after two days of meditating and trying to process the news) after they had killed the two scouts.

Chewie growled and went over, sniffing. Suddenly, he let out a loud bark and began rushing through the thick vegetation.

"What, Chewie?" Han called after his friend. "What? Chewie!"

The others rushed to keep up with the giant Wookiee. As he scooted along through the trees, Artoo whistled nervously.

Eventually, the group reached a break in the undergrowth.

Chewie walked up to a tall stake planted in the ground. There was a dead animal hanging from it.

"Hey, I don't get it," Han complained.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Leia mumbled as the rest of the group joined the Wookiee around the stake.

"Nah, it's just a dead animal, Chewie," Han continued, not hearing his lover's words.

Chewie couldn't resist. He reached towards the meat.

"Chewie, wait!" Leia cried, alarmed. "Don't!"

Her warning came too late. The Wookiee had already pulled the animal from the stake. There was a loud SPROOING!, and the entire group found itself hanging upside down in a net, suspended high above the clearing.

"Kriff," Leia sighed, slamming her head back against the rope of the net.


	11. Threepio

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Ewoks declare Threepio their god.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. Soon, the climax will arrive, I promise! Just hang on a bit!**

**Chapter Eleven**

**All Hail Threepio the God**

_**Endor** _

"Nice work," Han snapped sarcastically as he pulled Chewie's paw out of his mouth. "Great work, Chewie! Just great! Always thinking with your stomach."

"Will you take it easy?" Leia sighed as she tried to free her arm. "Let's just figure out a way to get out of this thing. I can't use the Force on the knot, it's too awkward. We need to cut ourselves out. Han, can you reach my lightsabre?"

"Yeah, sure," Han replied grumpily, as he started trying to reach for said weapon.

Artoo was at the bottommost point in the net. He extended his cutting appendage and began slicing at the net. Meanwhile, Han was trying to squeeze an arm past Threepio to get at Leia's lightsabre, accidentally feeling her up instead as the net continued to spin.

"Artoo, I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Threepio fussed. "It's a very long dro-o-op!"

Artoo finished cutting through and the entire group tumbled out of the net, crashing to the ground. As they regained their senses and sat up, they realized that they were surrounded by dozens of Ewoks, each of the small bears brandishing a long spear.

"Wha-?" Han mumbled in bewilderment, wondering if he had been knocked unconscious and that was why he was seeing a large group of multi-coloured teddy bear-like things surrounding him. "Hey! Point that thing someplace else." Han pushed the spear wielded by Teebo out of his face. The Ewoks mumbled unhappily and a second Ewok warrior came up to argue with Teebo. The spear returned to Han's face. He grabbed it angrily and started to go for his laser pistol.

"Hey!" he snapped.

"Han, don't," Leia ordered, grabbing his arm to stop him. "It'll be all right," she assured him. "Just go with it." He shot her an incredulous look as the Ewoks swarmed through them and confiscated their weapons.

Leia let them take her lightsabre while Chewie growled at the furry critters. "Chewie, give 'em your crossbow," the Jedi commanded. The Wookiee growled in annoyance as he complied.

Artoo and Threepio were still untangling themselves. Threepio got free of the net and sat up, visibly rattled.

"Oh, my head," he moaned, before spotting the Ewoks. "Oh, my goodness!"

When the Ewoks saw Threepio, they all let out gasps and began to chatter among themselves. Threepio spoke to them in their native tongue, causing the Ewok nearest him to drop his spear and prostrate himself before the droid. In a moment, all the Ewoks had followed suit.

Chewie let out a puzzled bark. Han and Leia regarded the bowed creatures in wonder. The Ewoks began to chant at Threepio.

"Do you understand anything they're saying?" Leia asked. She rolled her eyes subtly at his indignant response.

"Oh, yes, Mistress Leia!" Threepio cried. "Remember that I am fluent in over six million forms of communication."

"What are you telling them?" Han demanded gruffly, eyeing the Ewoks warily.

"Hello, I think...," Threepio's voice trailed off uncertainly. "I could be mistaken. They're using a very primitive dialect. But I do believe they think I am some sort of god."

Chewbacca and Artoo started doing their versions of laughter while Han and Leia exchanged "what next?" looks.

"Well, why don't you use your divine influence and get us out of this?" Han suggested in a testy tone of voice.

Threepio frowned at him reprovingly. "I beg your pardon, General Solo, but that just wouldn't be proper."

"Proper?!"

"It's against my programming to impersonate a deity," the droid sniffed. Han moved toward Threepio threateningly, murder in his eyes. Leia scrambled to her feet in preparation to intervene before he ripped the droid apart.

"Why, you-" Han began to hiss. He was interrupted by several Ewoks' spears being thrust in Han's face at the affront to their supposed 'god.'

The Ewoks moved in to protect their 'god', leaving Han surrounded by a menacing circle of spears, all aimed at him. Glancing around, he decided to give in and held up his hands placatingly.

"My mistake," he forced a smile that did nothing to hide the fury in his eyes. "He's an old friend of mine."

The Ewoks converged on them, and Han, Leia, Chewie, and Artoo were all tied to long poles and wrapped in vines, cocoonlike. Each pole was carried on the shoulders of several Ewoks as they made up a procession that wound through the ever-darkening forest. Behind the captives, Threepio was carried on a litter, like a king, by the remaining creatures.

The procession moved along a shaky, narrow, wooden walkway, high in the giant trees. It stopped at the end of the walkway, which dropped off into nothingness. On the other side of the abyss was a village made up of small mud huts and rickety walkways, each one attached to the giant trees. The lead Ewok took hold of a long vine and swung across to the village square with the other Ewoks following suit.

The procession wound its' way into the village square. Mother Ewoks gathered their babies up and scurried into their huts at the sight of the newcomers. The group came to a stop before the largest hut. Han, Leia, Chewie, and Artoo were still bound to their poles. Han was placed on a spit above what looked like a barbecue pit and the others were leaned against a tree nearby. Threepio's litter/throne was gently placed near the pit from where he watched with rapt fascination.

Han, Leia, and Chewie were less than fascinated.

"I have a really bad feeling about this," Han groaned as Chewie growled his concern.

"It'll be fine," Leia breathed, her voice nervous. "I just need to get these bonds undone, and then everything'll be fine. Don't worry." As she spoke, she wrestled with the tightly-done ropes in an attempt to slip free of them. She was reluctant to use the Force where such primitive creatures could see, least she be branded a demon or witch, and burnt. Obi-Wan had told her stories of such things, and she had a healthy fear of it now.

Suddenly all activity stopped as Logray, the tribal Medicine Man, came out of the big hut. He examined the captives carefully before going to join Threepio, whose throne had been placed on an elevated platform. A larger, grey-haired Ewok, Chief Chirpa, was examining Leia's lightsabre with great curiosity.

Logray spoke to Threepio and the assemblage of fuzzy Ewoks, pointing to the prisoners tied to the stakes. The Ewoks began filling the pit under Han with firewood.

"What did he say?" Han demanded.

"I'm rather embarrassed, General Solo," Threepio began, looking flustered. "but it appears you are to be the main course at a banquet in my honour."

The drums started beating, and all the furry heads turned to the large hut. Luke and Neena emerged, wearing clothes made of animal-skins.

They saw what was happening at the same moment the prisoners saw them.

"Luke! Neena!" Han and Leia cried at the sight of them. As the pair moved toward them, the Ewoks blocked their way with raised spears.

"Oh!" Neena exclaimed in surprise, as Luke shifted his body between her and the spears.

"Your Royal Highnesses," Threepio called to them in greeting.

Artoo and Chewie chimed in with their own welcomes. Luke looked at the assembled Ewoks and sighed.

"But these are our friends," he sighed. "Threepio, tell them they must be set free."

Threepio spoke to Chirpa and Logray, who listened and shook their heads negatively. The Medicine Man gestured toward the prisoners and barked some orders. Several Ewoks jumped up and began piling more wood on the barbecue with vigour. Luke and Neena traded frantic looks with Leia and Han.

"Somehow, I got the feeling that didn't help us very much," Han stated dryly.

"Threepio, tell them if they don't do as you wish, you'll become angry and use your magic," Leia instructed her droid.

"But Mistress Leia, what magic?" he protested. "couldn't possibly -"

"Just tell them," she cut him off sharply. Threepio spoke to the Ewoks, clearly disturbing them with his threat. Logray stepped forward and challenged Threepio. Nobody noticed as Leia closed her eyes and began to concentrate.

"You see, Mistress Leia," Threepio huffed. "they didn't believe me. Just..." As he spoke, the litter/throne, with Threepio sitting upon it, rose from the ground. At first Threepio didn't notice and kept talking.

"... as I said they wouldn't." He finally realized that he was rising into the air andcried out in shock and fear. "Wha-wha-what's happening! Oh! Oh, dear! Oh!"

The Ewoks fell back in terror from the floating throne. Meanwhile, Threepio began to spin as though he were on a revolving stool, with Threepio calling out in total panic at his situation.

"Put me down!" He yelled desperately. "He-e-elp! Mistress Leia! Artoo! Somebody, somebody, help! Mistress Leia, Artoo! Artoo, quickly! Do something, somebody! Oh! Ohhh!"

Chief Chirpa yelled orders to the cowering Ewoks. They rushed up and released the bound prisoners. As soon as they were free, Leia and Han enfolded Luke and Neena in a group embrace.

Leia noticed the still spinning Threepio, with Artoo beeping up at him, and slowly and subtly lowered the golden droid and the throne to the ground while Logray ordered the blue and white droid to be cut down.

The Ewoks weren't particularly careful, and Artoo went crashing to the ground. When the Ewoks set him upright, the little droid was fighting mad. Artoo beeped a blue streak at the nearest Ewok, and began pursuing him, finally getting close enough to zap him with an electric charge. The Ewok jumped two feet in the air and ran away, screaming.

A small group of Ewoks surrounded the giant Wookiee, scratching their heads and marvelling at his great height.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh!" Threepio exclaimed as he was set down on the ground again. "Thank goodness."

"Thanks, Threepio," Leia told him, smirking in amusement.

"I...I never knew I had it in me," Threepio stammered, still badly shaken by the events.

Soon enough, they were invited to the Chief's hut to speak with the Tribe Elders.

A glowing fire danced in the centre of the spartan, low-ceilinged room, creating a kaleidoscope of shadows on the walls. Along one side, a group of ten Ewok elders flanked Chief Chirpa, who sat regally on his throne. The Rebels sat along the walls of the hut, with Threepio between the two groups and Wicket and Teebo off to one side.

Threepio was in the midst of a long, animated speech in the Ewok's squeaky native tongue. The Ewoks listened carefully and occasionally murmured comments to each other. Threepio pointed several times at the Rebel group and pantomimed a short history of the Galactic Civil War, mimicking the explosion and rocket sounds, and imitating Imperial walkers.

Artoo beeped excitedly at Threepio.

"Yes, Artoo," Threepio huffed. "I was just coming to that." He continued with his explanation, bringing the history up to the present time.

At the end of it, the Chief, Logray, and the elders all conferred, then nodded in agreement.

The Chief stood and made a pronouncement. The drums began to sound, and all the Ewoks stood with a great cheer and loud screeches.

"What's going on?" Han hissed to his friends.

"I don't know," Luke muttered in reply.

"Do I look like I speak Ewok?" Neena added, clapping and shrugging when they gave her bemused looks for it.

Leia had been sharing the joy with a smiling visage, but now something passed over her expression like a dark cloud. The others were all too distracted to notice.

"Wonderful!" Threepio exclaimed. "We are now a part of the tribe."

Several of the little teddy bears ran up and hugged the Rebels.

"Just what I always wanted," Han said dryly. Chewbacca was being enthusiastically embraced by an Ewok, while Wicket clung to Han's leg.

"Oh, come one, Han," Neena shoved at his shoulder lightly. "They're so cute, and you know it." She patted Teebo gently on the head as he gripped her thigh tightly.

"Well, short help is better than no help at all, Chewie," Han chuckled. He looked down at Wicket. "Thank you. Okay."

"He says the scouts are going to show us the quickest way to the shield generator," Threepio informed them. Chewie barked. Leia had drifted to the back of the hut, a downcast air around her. Only Luke noticed as she wandered outside into the moonlight. Frowning in concern, he followed.


	12. Twins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leia and Luke have a conversation.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.**

**Chapter Twelve**

**Twins of the Force**

Outside of Chief Chirpa's hut, Leia stood on the now deserted walkway. From her vantage point she could see the way that the windows of the little huts glowed and flickered from the fires inside. The sounds of the forest filled the soft night air, giving it a peaceful air that contrasted sharply with the war going on in the skies above the small moon.

Leia sighed heavily and looked up at the sky, towards the Death Star. She could sense the Darkness that radiated from it, making her feel icy-cold inside, despite the warm air of the Endorian summer night. Luke found her like that several minutes later, still staring up at the space station, the weight of the galaxy weighing down her slim shoulders.

"Leia, what's wrong?" Luke asked, coming up to stand beside her. Seeing the way she shivered slightly, and also feeling oddly cold, he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close to share their body heat.

Leia leaned in to him as she looked at him silently for a long moment. "Luke, you and Winter were adopted, weren't you?" she murmured after a moment.

Luke blinked in surprise, wondering what his heritage had to do with anything. He had never really considered it before, though he knew that Winter had spent months tracking down her birth family when she was twelve. To him, though, Bail and Breha had been the only parents he had ever wanted or needed. Why would he care about the people who he shared nothing but genetics with? Maybe it had something to do with the revelation of her biological lineage, something she had been struggling to deal with over the past year, though she mostly refused to discuss the subject entirely.

Thank the Force that the Rebel Council had dismissed any concerns of her loyalty, and that Pooja hadn't faltered in her love for the young woman. Leia would probably have shattered if her connection to Vader had ruined anything for her.

"Yes," he said finally, realizing that his best friend was still waiting patiently for him to answer her question. "Winter and I were both adopted through the Clone Wars Orphan Office when we were both babies. I was a newborn, while Winter was adopted two years later, at three. My parents, that is, the Organas."

Leia nodded in understanding. She too couldn't change her belief that the Naberries were her 'real' parents. What did genetics matter, when it was Sola who had nursed her, and Darred who had carried her on his shoulders as a young child?

"They had been trying to have a child naturally for years, but nothing came of it," Luke explained, realizing that he had never mentioned any of this to Leia before. How had she even learned that he was adopted? Had Winter said something to her? It would have been a surprise if she had, as she and Leia barely spoke, though they had a cordial relationship with each other.

"Eventually, when the war broke out, they decided to adopt. The adoptions were both closed, and no one knew the identity of our birth parents. I never really looked into it, though Winter did when she was younger. She was just curious though. As soon as she knew what had happened to her birth family, she let it go."

Leia nodded thoughtfully and looked away, back towards the sky, and the Death Star that they could clearly make out already, despite the distance, and its' unfinished state.

"My birth mother was my real mother's younger sister," she murmured. "I just learned that a few days ago. The Jedi, that is, Masters Obi-Wan and Yoda, gave me to her family because Mama was in confinement with a baby that turned out to be stillborn. They swapped us on Mama and Papa's suggestion. I wish I could tell them how much I love them still. Thank them for doing that, even though-" she cut herself with a shake of the head before changing the topic slightly. "Perhaps it's unfair to her, but I can't think of her as anybody other than my Aunt Padmé."

She stepped away from him, running a hand through her hair, that hung loose around her shoulders instead of being in its' typical infinity-bun. There was an air of resigned pain and acceptance around her as she ran her thumb over the hilt of her lightsabre.

Luke found himself chewing on his bottom lip uncertainly, at a loss as to how to continue the conversation. And as to why Leia was bringing the subject up at all. After all, she had spent over a year ignoring the topic completely.

"Leia," he reached out and grabbed her hand in his own, tugging at it until she finally turned to meet his gaze. There were dark shadows under her blue eyes, whispering of the troubles that tormented her. And something else, some kind of aura that he remembered Master Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano and Kanan Jarrus all having, the few times that he had met them.

"Tell me," he implored her softly. "What's troubling you so badly?" When she didn't reply, her gaze flicking away from his again, he pressed her. "Leia, it's just me. You know that you can trust me. You can tell me anything."

"Vader is here...now, on this moon," Leia finally stated, sounding as if the words were being dragged out of her by force. Luke's complexion went white with fear and alarm. Ever since his time in the custody of the Empire, back on the First Death Star, he had feared Darth Vader more than anybody or anything else in the galaxy. His fear had only increased after meeting him at Bespin the year prior. The thought of him being on same planet as Luke, his wife and his best friends, his  _family_ , was almost too much for the young prince of Alderaan to take.

"How do you know?" he whispered hoarsely, half-hoping that Leia was wrong, or simply being overly-paranoid, and assuming the worst. But he knew she wasn't. He had very little Force training, but he had learned enough to sense the truth of her words, even as she spoke. He didn't dare to try and sense Vader himself, least his unpractised attempts draw the attention of the Sith Lord to their current location.

"I felt his presence," Leia explained, again looking away, over the small Ewok village. "He's come for me. He can feel when I'm near, just like I can hear him. That's why I have to go."

She turned to face Luke. Her expression was resigned and tired, but determined. Luke knew that nothing he said would convince her to stay, though he was prepared to go down on his knees and beg her not to go.

"As long as I stay, I'm endangering the group and our mission here." She paused for a split-second, running her thumb over her lightsabre again. "I have to face him."

Luke shook his head in denial, feeling lost, distraught and confused. "Why?" he begged. "Why do you have to be the one to face him? Why can't one of us help you?"

Leia moved closer to him, cupping his cheek with a gentle manner. Any last traces of fear or sorrow had disappeared, leaving her very calm. "You know who Vader is to me," she reminded him.

"You don't know that he was telling you the truth about that!" Luke objected desperately. "The word of an Imperial is hardly proof of-"

"Luke, can you really claim to believe any of what you're saying?" Leia interrupted, a tiny smile making her lips twitch. Her eyes were sad. "Even now, when you've accessed the Force yourself? You know that I'm right. He and I share blood, however much I wish otherwise. Nothing will change that.

Anyway," she continued, when Luke's shoulders slumped in bitter acceptance. "That's not the only reason that I have to be the one to face him. I'm the Last Jedi Knight. Nobody else would ever manage to even get close to him. I'm the only chance we have at killing him, and until he's dead, we'll never get to the Emperor, either."

"Let us help you," Luke begged her. "I can-"

"No Luke," Leia shook her head. "If I am killed, then you're the last hope for the Alliance."

Luke shuddered at her words, feeling sick. Especially as he knew that what she was saying was the truth.

"The Force is strong in you," Leia hummed. "Just as it is in me. And as it was in the rest of our paternal family."

She fell silent at that, meeting Luke's stunned gaze. Her mouth twisted upwards in a wry grin. "Yes," she confirmed his silent query. "We're twins. And Vader, unfortunately, is our birth father. Padmé Amidala was our birth mother. She was-"

"The former Queen and Senator of Naboo," Luke interrupted, looking shell-shocked at everything he had been hit with in the past few minutes. "I know. She was a close friend to my father. They were many committees together. He always spoke so highly of her. She was one of my political idols, ever since I was a child."

Leia smiled sadly at that. "I'm glad you know a bit about her, even just her career," she murmured. "Mama always used to tell me stories about her. I wouldn't give up the time that I had my family for the world, but I wish that we could have grown up together. And that we could have met her."

"Me too," Luke croaked. He swallowed harshly, pulling her into a tight hug. "I always knew, deep down," he told her. "Something about you. It called to me."

"Me too," she breathed back. "My brother. It was like I had finally found the piece of me that had been missing for my entire life when I first met you."

They fell silent and hugged each other tightly for several minutes before Leia finally pulled away. She gave him one last smile, her eyes filled a solemn sadness as she pressed her lips to his cheek before turning and leaping down off of the walkway. The Force fuelled her jump, and she landed easily on the other side of the chasm, her blonde hair glowing in the darkness of the night as she ran into the forest.

When she was finally out of sight, and he realized that, no, she wouldn't be coming back, Luke broke down. His broad shoulders shook with the force of his tears as he sobbed.

Eventually, Han and Neena came out, worried for their respective partners. It had been over an hour since Leia and Luke had slipped out of the hut. And though there had been no noises to indicate a fight, the pair was still nervous.

"Luke!" Neena called, alarmed to see her husband in tears and standing on the edge of the walkway. Han was also concerned for his younger friend, but he was more worried by the fact that Leia was still nowhere to be found.

"Where's Leia?" the general demanded as they hurried to the prince's side, Neena wrapping an arm around him in support. "Where is she?" Han's voice rose when Luke failed to reply, his sobs growing stronger at the question.

"Gone," Luke managed to choke out, his heart twisting in grief as he spoke. "Leia's gone."

"What do you mean, Leia's gone?" Han snapped, panic flaring even more at his friend's words. His dread only increased as he recalled Leia's strangely melancholy attitude over the past few hours, how she had kissed him like it would be their last chance to ever do so right before they had gone into Chief Chirpa's hut. The strange look in her beautiful blue eyes as she stared at the Death Star on their way to Endor, earlier that day. At the time, he had dismissed it, as Leia often had bouts of pensiveness and such. But a bad feeling had sprung up inside him, and now his stomach twisted with a sick feeling.

"She's gone," Luke repeated, his voice breaking as he sank to his knees. Neena slumped down onto the wooden walkway with him, her own tears spilling. Han shook his head in denial and pain, falling onto all fours and pounding at the planks with helpless fury.

"Not Leia," the smuggler begged the Force. "Please, take me instead. Just not her. Please, just not Leia."

For once, there was no sign of the sarcastic pirate in the man as he begged the mystical energy to spare the Last Jedi. There was only the man who had sworn to follow the woman he loved, all the way to the ends of the universe if that was what she asked him to do.

Luke and Neena shuffled over to him to embrace his shaking body as the three of them let out their fear for their friend together.


	13. An Offer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leia surrenders to Imperial custody while the Rebels prepare for their assault.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. Thanks to everyone who's following, faving, kudosing, etc this story. It makes my day to get those alerts.**

**Chapter Thirteen**

**An Offer of Redemption**

_**Endor, Temporary Imperial Base** _

An Imperial shuttle floated down from the Death Star and landed gracefully on the huge platform that had been set up in anticipation the shuttle's arrival. A few moments later, an Imperial walker approached the platform from the darkness of the forest.

The whole outpost - platform, walkers, military - looked particularly offensive in the midst of the verdant beauty. Several troopers fell into formation as their Sith commander stalked out of the shuttle and walked down the ramp of the shuttle onto the platform. He then made his way into an elevator, and down to a lower level.

Once there, he walked toward another ramp exit where he was met by two troopers and a commander with Leia, in binders, at their centre. The young Jedi gazed at Vader with complete calm.

To the Last of the Jedi, the way the beautiful forest had been gutted to make tunnels for the sake of the Empire was a stark reminder of everything that was at stake. But Leia was not afraid. On the contrary, she was completely serene. The Force was with her, and she needed nothing else. The calm smile that played on her lips unnerved her guards as the Commander stepped forward to bow and speak to Vader.

"This is a Rebel that surrendered to us," he explained. "Although she denies it, I believe there may be more of them, and I request permission to conduct a further search of the area." Upon finishing his request, he extended his hand, revealing Leia's lightsabre. "She was armed with this."

As he spoke, Leia thought absently that he must have been out of circulation for a while. It was obvious that he didn't know  _who_ , or, perhaps even more importantly, _what_ she was. He had roughly dismissed any of his subordinates' attempts to reveal her identity, and he didn't recognize that her weapon was, in fact, a lightsabre. If he had, he would have been a lot warier of her. Typically, she would have taken advantage of that arrogance. But in this case, she  _wanted_  to be here, so she resisted the ingrained urge to attack.

Vader looked briefly at Leia, then turned away from her to face the commander, taking the lightsabre from his hand.

"Good work, Commander," he said coolly. "Leave us. Conduct your search and bring her companions to me."

"Yes, my Lord," the commander preened under the praise as he gestured for his troops to withdraw to prepare for the search.

Vader and Leia were left standing alone in the oddly tranquil beauty of the place. The sounds of the forest filtered in upon them. Leia smiled happily at the sound of the Living Force. The sound of the life, even that of the little critters that most people dismissed, all strengthened her in her conviction to do what was right. The Light would win. She knew it would.

"The Emperor has been expecting you," Vader said finally, after studying her in silence for several minutes. Her serenity unnerved him. He had never been able to achieve that feeling or air of peace that befitted a 'proper' Jedi. He had always needed to be active, never quite able to reach that state of utter calmness and faith in the will of the Force. He had only learned to fake it.

Leia inclined her head in acknowledgment, her smile fading into an even expression. "I know," she murmured. "But I will not do it. My loyalty is with the Light, and it always shall be."

Vader felt his temper flare in anger at her words. "You will serve the Dark," he growled, clenching his fist to choke her. "Or you will die."

Leia gasped and reached for her throat with her bound hands. Despite that, she remained resolute. "I..will..not!" she choked out with defiant calm as she rose slightly into the air. Vader snarled in anger and dropped her to the ground. Her Jedi reflexes kicked in, and she managed to land on her feet in a crouch, despite her restraints.

Vader's temper had settled again, and he turned away from her, turning her lightsabre over in his hands to examine it.

"I see you have constructed a new lightsabre," he commented as he ignited the lightsabre and held it up to his face mask to examine its' humming, brilliant blade, glowing an emerald green. "Your skills are complete. Indeed, you are powerful, as the Emperor has foreseen."

Leia didn't reply, and they stood in silence with each other for a moment, before Vader extinguished the lightsabre again, attaching it to his hip.

"You don't have to do this, you know," Leia offered. "It's not too late for you to return to the Light and be forgiven for what you've done."

After everything he had done, offering him absolution left an ugly taste in her mouth. But her birth mother, her teacher. They had both loved Anakin Skywalker, for reasons that Leia would never know or understand. For their sake, and to prove that she was a better person than he was, she had to make the offer.

He turned back to her, and she could feel the contempt that he felt towards her offer of redemption bleeding out of him in the Force. She knew what his answer was going to be before his he even began to speak in his harsh, mechanical voice.

"Foolish child," he sneered at her in a voice filled with scorn. "You know nothing of the power of the Dark Side. You are not the first Jedi to be captured by the Empire, and all have made the same claims of staying true to the pathetic Light. You will serve the Dark eventually, or you will die, just like the rest of them."

"Then I will die," Leia replied quietly. She watched with a hint of curiosity as he stiffened at her choice, before stalking over to a group of troopers hovering out of earshot.

Vader feared death, her teacher had told her. He sought immortality, and, in a way, he had found it. No one would ever forget the name of the man who had terrorized the galaxy for over two decades. Her expression hardened. But today, his and the Emperor's reign of terror would end. Even if it did cost her her life.

* * *

_**Endor Forest** _

Han, Luke, Neena, Chewbacca, the droids, Wicket, and another Ewok scout named Paploo were hiding on a ridge overlooking the massive Imperial shield generator. At the base of the generator was an Imperial landing platform.

"The main entrance to the control bunker is on the far side of that landing platform," Neena whispered to her comrades, having infiltrated dozens of these types of areas. Imperial architecture was exactly the same, right down to the flaws. Unfortunately, she had to grudgingly admit that there wasn't a lot of flaws. "There's a lot of guards."

"This isn't gonna be easy," Luke muttered, biting his lower lip lightly. His eyes were still red-rimmed and he regularly thought of how his twin sister was currently going after the Emperor himself, but he was holding himself together, as was Han. For Leia's sake, as well as that of the rest of the Alliance, they had to succeed in their mission.

"Hey, don't worry," Han waved him off, forcing himself to act cheerful. Leia's presence at the back of his mind was the only reason that he was having any amount of success, though. "Chewie and me got into a lot of places more heavily guarded than this."

Wicket and Paploo were chattering away to each other softly in Ewok language. After a quick discussion, Wicket turned and spoke to Threepio.

"What's he saying?" Luke demanded sharply.

"He says that there is a secret entrance on the other side of the ridge," Threepio explained.

The three humans' faces curled into vicious grins, triumph and excitement beginning to gleam in their eyes as they exchanged quick looks with each other.

* * *

_**The Millennium Falcon, Space** _

Several light years away, the vast rebel fleet was hanging, carefully hidden, in space near a blue planet. A giant Rebel Star Cruiser had been up at the front, but the  _Millennium Falcon_  roared up to a spot ahead of it, tiny in comparison.

Inside the Falcon, Lando was seated tensely in the pilot seat. His Sullustan co-pilot, Nien Nunb, was taking the time to give the controls a thorough checking over.

Nien Nunb was a former smuggler and arms dealer who had supplied many weapons, food and medical supplies to the Alliance before officially becoming a member after helping to rescue an entire ship worth of captive Alderaanians out of the Imperial prison, as well as Luke, shortly after the destruction of the planet. He was now a highly valued member of the fleet, and his contacts had saved the Alliance and their dependants from starvation hundreds of times.

After casting a quick glance at his co-pilot, Lando spoke into his com-link. "Admiral, we're in position," he reported to Ackbar. "All fighters accounted for."

"Proceed with the countdown," Ackbar replied curtly. "All groups assume your assigned attack coordinates."

Lando turned back to his small co-pilot. "Don't worry," he assured him with forced brightness. "My friends are down there. They'll have that shield down on time..." he finished the comment in a whisper directed at himself. "or this'll be the shortest offensive of all time."

Nien Nunb flipped some switches and grunted a comment that Lando couldn't understand in his native language.

"All crafts, prepare to jump to hyperspace on my mark," Ackbar ordered over the com-link.

"All right," Lando acknowledged the Mon Calamari's order. "Stand by." He pulled a lever, and the stars outside began to streak as the small freight entered into hyperspace.

It was certainly an awesome sight to witness, for anybody lucky enough to do so: first the  _Millennium Falcon_ , then Ackbar's Star Cruiser, then, in large segments, the huge fleet roared into hyperspace and disappeared, taking with it the galaxy' hope for freedom.

* * *

_**Endor Forest** _

Back on Endor, Han, Luke, Neena, Chewie, the droids, and their two Ewok guides, Wicket and Paploo, had reunited with the Rebel strike squad.

The entire group was spread through the thick undergrowth. Below them was the bunker that led into the generator.

Four Imperial scouts, with their speeder bikes parked nearby, were keeping a careful watch over the bunker entrance.

"Weird that they're so on alert," one of the strike team commented, his voice low so as not to disturb the stillness of the Endorian night. "Usually the bastards are too kriffing arrogant to think be on guard."

"Lord Vader is on the planet," Luke revealed curtly, making the other rebels go pale with instinctual fear at the name of the galaxy's real-life boogeyman.

"That's where Leia is. She's gone to confront him." He clenched his fists and tried to have faith in his sister as he continued. "No Imperial would ever dare to risk performing at anything less than a 100 percent while Vader was nearby. They'd be killed for it before they could blink."

"May the Force be with her," Shondra Del, one of the other members of the team whispered under her breath. Han swallowed thickly, feeling his heart thud painfully in his chest. He had never wanted to believe in the Force more than now. He wanted to believe that it really did care about the people that it connected even more than that.

Chewie growled an observation, and Paploo chattered away to Han in the Ewok language.

"Back door, huh?" he clarified, tapping his fingers against his blaster. "Good idea."

Wicket and Paploo continued their conversation in Ewokese with each other at his praise.

"It's only a few guards," Han pointed out, studying the position of the enemy thoughtfully. "Even if they are unusually focused. We outnumber them and we have the element of surprise. This shouldn't be too much trouble."

"Oh great, and now you've gone and jinxed us," Neena complained as she rolled her emerald eyes and cocked her hip, resting her hand on it.

"Have not," he huffed back, crossing his own arms over his chest, blaster dangling casually from a finger. Even with it like that, he could kill all of the Imps below before the any of them even noticed that something was wrong, and everybody knew it.

"It only takes one person to sound the alarm," Luke interrupted the banter.

"Then we'll do it real quiet-like," Han answered with a self-confident grin.

Threepio bent down and explained what is going on to Wicket and Paploo. The Ewoks chattered a moment between themselves. Then Paploo jumped up and scampered off into the thickness of the underbrush.

"Where is he going?" Threepio asked Wicket. The Ewok's reply was short and curt.

"Oh!" Threepio cried, covering his metal mouth in horror. "Oh, my. Uh, Prince Luke!"

"Quiet," the young man hissed. "What is it?"

"I'm afraid our furry companion has gone and done something rather rash," the droid announced sorrowfully.

"Oh, no," Luke groaned.


	14. Light vs. Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final battle of Sith versus Jedi.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. Here it is, the climax. I hope you enjoy it, I put a lot of work into it. Review and tell me what you think!**

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Light vs. Dark, The Final Battle**

**_The Death Star_ **

Leia didn't say a single word, nor did she fight or try to escape from the Imperials as she bundled into a shuttle, and then taken to an elevator by them and Vader. The whole time, he kept a punishingly tight grip on her arm, so tight that she knew it would, at best, be badly bruised the next time that she looked at it. He had tightened her wrist bonds as well, and two tiny lines of blood were welling up from where they dug into her skin.

' _Pain is but a figment of the mind'_  she remembered Obi-Wan telling her.  _'If you can control your mind, then you will control your pain as well.'_

The elevator opened just as she finished suppressing her pain, mild as it was. She couldn't afford the slightest distraction right now. She wasn't Mace Windu, capable of seeing the shatterpoints of time, but she  _was_  a Jedi, and she could sense the Force's agitation. Her actions here on board the half-built Death Star would decide the fate of the galaxy. She  _had_ to win, no matter what the cost.

Guards had escorted them from the shuttle to the elevator, but Vader and Leia entered the room alone. They walked in silence across the dark space to stand before the throne, father and daughter side by side beneath the gaze of the Emperor. When they reached the bottom of the throne's platform, Vader bowed from the waist to his Master.

"Welcome, young Skywalker," the Emperor greeted them, his voice sinister. "I have been expecting you."

Shoving away the sick feeling that his mere presence gave her, Leia peered up at the hooded figure defiantly. "My name is Leia  _Naberrie_ , not Leia Skywalker," she declared firmly, refusing to give in to her fear. It was there, she had it and she accepted it as a part of her. But she would not succumb to its' Dark influence.

"You have your mother's spirit," Sidious noted, before he looked down at her binders. "You no longer need those," he announced. He motioned ever so slightly with his finger and the binders fall away, clattering to the floor.

Leia glanced down at her own hands, free now to reach out and grab the Emperor's neck. Despite the temptation that she felt to do just that, she didn't move. It wouldn't work, and the Force wasn't telling her to act yet. Now, more than ever, Leia needed to rely on the guidance of the Force.

"Guards, leave us," the Emperor ordered the protectors that lined the shadows of the room. Without a word from any of them, the red-cloaked guards turned and disappeared into the shadows behind the elevator.

Palpatine turned back to the silent Jedi. "I'm looking forward to completing your training. In time you will call me Master."

"You're gravely mistaken," she answered. "You won't convert me as you did Vader."

The Emperor rose and left his throne, walking up very close to Leia. She forced herself to resist the urge to recoil from him. The Darkness that radiated from him was so strong and sickening it made bile rise in her throat and her vision became spotted with splotches of black. A horrible coldness, worse than even Hoth and tainted with evil, made her insides shiver.

The Emperor's cruel yellow eyes met Leia's own sky-blue eyes, allowing Leia to perceive the evil and twisted visage within the hood for the first time.

"Oh, no, my young Jedi," Sidious chuckled darkly. "You will find that it is you who are mistaken...about a great many things."

Leia swallowed, but refused to relent. "Maybe so," she admitted. "But not about this. I will die, before I  _ever_  allow myself to Turn to the Dark Side."

"That is what all Jedi say," he replied. "And some of them do. But you will not. In time, you will  _serve_  me."

She shook her head, feeling her braid whip against the side of her cheek. The light stinging sensation helped strengthen her determination, somehow.

"Her lightsabre," Vader told the Emperor as he extended a gloved hand toward the Emperor, opening it and revealing Leia's painstakingly built lightsabre. She resisted another shudder as the Emperor took it.

' _Your lightsabre is your life'_  Obi-Wan had said to her. It felt as if the two Sith were tainting her soul by touching her sabre, staining it with their Darkness.

"Ah, yes, a Jedi's weapon," the Emperor mused as he turned it over carelessly in his hands. "Much like your father's. By now you must know your father can never be turned from the Dark Side. So will it be with you."

"You're wrong," Leia insisted stubbornly. "I am not Vader."

Her Mama had always said that when Leia decided to do something, not even the goddess Shiraya herself would be able to stop her. And it was true. Leia was rarely stubborn, but when she had set herself a goal, nothing got in her way. Ever.

"Soon I'll be dead...and you with me," she finished, meeting his gaze.

The Emperor laughed mockingly at her declaration, dismissing it. Leia didn't mind that. Him underestimating her would only help.

"Perhaps you refer to the imminent attack of your Rebel fleet," he smirked, making Leia look at him sharply.

"Yes...," he drawled, smugly confident of his victory. "I assure you that we are quite safe from your friends here."

Vader looked at Leia, though she couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"Your overconfidence is your weakness," she warned the Sith Master, unsurprised when he dismissed it arrogantly.

"Your faith in your friends is yours."

"It is pointless to resist, my daughter," Vader told her.

"Did you even try?" she challenged him. "And I am no child of yours. We may share blood, but I will always be the daughter of Sola and Darred Naberrie."

His anger at her announcement made the already freezing temperature of the room drop another five or six degrees while the Emperor turned to face her again.

"Everything that has transpired has done so according to my design," the Emperor, now angered, snapped as he indicated Endor. "Your friends up there on the Sanctuary Moon..."

Leia, who had always been terrible when it came to hiding her feelings about those she loved, couldn't stop herself from jerking in automatic reaction.

She cursed herself for doing so immediately as the Emperor noted it. He smirked cruelly as he continued, "...are walking into a trap. As is your Rebel fleet! It was I who allowed the Alliance to know the location of the shield generator. It is quite safe from your pitiful little band. An entire legion of my best troops awaits them."

Leia's gaze darted around the room, over both Palpatine and Vader, before it finally ended up resting on her lightsabre, still held by the Emperor.

"Oh..." His eyes glinted with vicious satisfaction as he added, "I'm afraid that the deflector shield will be quite operational when your friends arrive."

Sensing the truth in his words, Leia didn't bother to try and stop the sob of grief that broke through her lips as she spotted the fleet emerging from hyperspace as the tyrannical ruler of the galaxy finished talking. She could sense their deaths approaching, and it made her heart ache, even as it solidified her determination not to let their sacrifices be in vain.

She couldn't remove her gaze from the round window behind the Emperor's throne. Through it, the distant flashes of the space battle in progress could be seen. To her grief and horror, it was obvious from the Force and the scene itself, that the Rebels were on the losing side.

"Go on, girl," the Emperor cackled, waving towards the window. "See for yourself."

He was sitting in his throne, with Vader standing at his side.

Silently, Leia moved to look through a small section of the window.

"From here you will witness the final destruction of the Alliance, and the end of your insignificant Rebellion," the Emperor declared, triumph in his voice.

Though she had managed to arrange her expression into a mask of neutrality, Leia was lost in torment. She glanced again at his lightsabre sitting on the armrest of the throne.

The Emperor spotted her action and smiled, touching the lightsabre. "You want this, don't you? The hate is swelling in you now. Take your Jedi weapon. Use it. I am unarmed. Strike me down with it. Give in to your anger. With each passing moment, you make yourself more my servant."

Every word he spoke made it more and more clear how little he knew and understood the young woman. She was angry, yes, and she loathed the Emperor and Vader with everything in her. But she was still firmly and utterly entrenched in the Light.

"Never!" Leia cried, recoiling with flashing eyes.

"It is unavoidable," the Emperor snarled. "It is your destiny. You, like your father, are now mine! Mine to use, mine to control!"

"I AM NOT VADER'S DAUGHTER!" Leia bellowed.

Before the Emperor could answer, he, Vader, and a horrified Leia were interrupted by the sound of the aerial battle fireworks that were visible through the window and on the viewscreens. Another Rebel ship exploded against the protective shield, making Leia groan in increased grief.

"As you can see, my young apprentice, your friends have failed," the Emperor announced. "Now witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational battle station." He raised a comlink to his mangled lips. "Fire at will, Commander."

Leia, in shock and beyond any thoughts of meditation and the safety of the Jedi Code, looked out with a helpless expression across the surface of the Death Star to the Rebel fleet beyond.

Out of the window and on the view screens, the Rebel fleet was being steadily decimated in blinding explosions of light and debris. But in the throne room there was no sound of battle, only the breathing of the three Force sensitives. It was an eerie contrast. The Emperor turned to Leia.

"Your fleet has lost," he declared. "And your friends on the Endor moon will not survive. There is no escape, my young apprentice. The Alliance will die...as will your friends."

Leia clenched her fist, fighting the fury and grief that threatened to overcome her.

' _Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.'_  Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, Kanan and Yoda had all quoted that to her and Ezra, and for their sake, she was determined not to surrender to it. She was the Last Jedi, the Last Hope of the Rebel Alliance. She could not fail.

Leia knew both Codes off by heart. The first had never really appealed to her, though she knew it perfectly.

_There is no emotion, there is peace._

_There is no ignorance, there is knowledge._

_There is no passion, there is serenity._

_There is no chaos, there is harmony._

_There is no death, there is the Force._

The only part that she had ever been completely comfortable with was the last line 'there is no death, there is the Force'. That made sense. But the alternate Code, the original one, was the Code that had always comforted and calmed her. She recited it now, in her mind as she fought against the taint of Darkness spread by the two Sith Lords.

_Emotion, yet peace._

_Ignorance, yet knowledge._

_Passion, yet serenity._

_Chaos, yet harmony._

_Death, yet the Force._

She spun on her heel and gave a defiant look to the two Sith. The Emperor frowned in disbelief and confused rage as she recited the Jedi Oath in a proud, determined voice.

" _I, Leia Naberrie, do swear on my honour, and on the faith of the brotherhood of knights, to use the Force only for good, denying, turning always from the Dark Side; to dedicate my life to the cause of freedom, and justice. If I should fail of this vow, my life shall be forfeit, here and hereafter._ "

"You dare to defy me?" the Emperor growled, jumping to his feet with surprising ease, given his form and age.

Leia raised her chin proudly. "I will always stand against the Dark." She held out her hand, and her lightsabre came flying into it, igniting the moment that it touched her palm.

She raised it just in time to deflect a jet of lightning sent towards her by the Emperor, sending it towards Vader, who in turn sent it into the wall.

The both of them ignited their own lightsabres, both of the weapons made with black hilts and red kyber crystals that reminded Leia of the blood of humans.

They were good, but Leia barely noticed. She had sunk into a trance, her world foggy as she moved and deflected and jumped in time with the urging of the Force. She was hurt several times, but she didn't feel any of the injuries she received. She felt nothing but peace and determination, and she gave as good as she got. She sliced off Palpatine's left hand, and managed to both slash Vader across his chest and cut off his right arm, starting from the shoulder.

He cried out in surprised fury when she managed to dismember him, his lightsabre falling to the floor along with the robotic arm as he staggered back with an enraged yell. Taking advantage of weaponless state, Leia managed to deflect another bolt of lightning from Sidious to Vader, and this time he wasn't quick enough to dodge. He went sprawling over the side of the floor, falling down.

Although it had been her goal, when Leia felt his sudden death, she was jolted out of her trance in surprise that she had actually succeeded where thousands of others had failed, including Obi-Wan himself. She lost her grip on the trance just in time to be hit with yet more Force-lightning. The agony infused her entire body, and she screamed in pain, falling onto her knees. She dropped her lightsabre, and it rolled away, out of her sight.

"YOU LOST ME MY APPRENTICE!" the Emperor bellowed furiously as he tortured her. Leia knew, instinctively, that he had lost patience with her. He had spent years grooming Vader to be his Sith Apprentice, and she had ruined all his years of hard work in an instant. She was going to die, and that fact was inescapable.

But, if she could just keep him focused on her long enough for the Rebels to disarm the shield and destroy the space station, then her death would not be in vain. She could see it in the Force, how Han, Luke, Neena and the others were working desperately at the generator, even as she sobbed in pain on the floor of the space station. They were nearly there.

She just had to keep him concentrating on torturing her for a little bit longer.

It was agonizing. Leia had been hit with Force lightning before, when fighting various Inquisitors, but none of them even compared to the Emperor in strength. She writhed and screamed under his unrelenting punishment for what seemed eternity, but in reality was probably only a few moments.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted her lightsabre, just out of reach of her fingertips, still ignited. She could almost touch the glowing blade. She was so close to it, she could feel the heat that it was giving off from the glowing green blade.

Sidious was still screaming at her, and she was still seizing from the pain of the lightning, but she managed to shift herself over a bit, under the guise of trying to crawl away and escape the pain.

"You will not escape me so easily!" Sidious snarled, increasing the power he was putting into his attack, and making her falter and moan, even as she subtly pushed her lightsabre blade with her fingertips, blocking her actions with her squirming body. It stung, but the pain barely registered with the pain of the torture. She ignored the burning, pressing it again and adding the Force as best she could with her pain-fogged mind, until it spun around in a half-circle, allowing her access to the hilt.

It took her another second to wrap her hand around it, but as soon as she did, her mind cleared. A smile grew on her face as she back-flipped to her feet and twirled her sabre to allow it to deflect the lightning back at its' creator.

"NO!" Palpatine screamed as he was caught in his own ruthless assault. "NO! YOU CANNOT DO THIS! NO! NO! NO!"

She ignored his enraged denials, her own face scrunched up in desperate determination as she pressed the lightning back into him. An image flashed into her mind, of Master Mace Windu doing the same thing the day Order 66 went out. But, unlike Master Windu, Leia didn't have Anakin Skywalker intervening, betraying the Republic for his own desire for the power of the Dark. And Palpatine, despite his surprising strength, was an old man, with an old man's body.

With one last desperate "NO!" the tyrant who had tormented the galaxy for over twenty years, died, his heart giving out under the strain of the lightning.

Arms shaking, Leia lowered her sabre, staring at the crumpled body with disbelief as her slim form shook violently. In all her imaginings of how things would turn out, she had never thought that she might survive defeating the Sith.

With all of their combined experience and strength, it had seemed impossible for to defeat them and survive, and she would have willingly given her life for the rest of the galaxy to be freed. But, despite the odds, she was  _alive_. And the Sith were dead. A sob broke free of her Cupid's bow lips.

Just as the thought ran threw her dazed mind, she felt the floor shake. Alarms began to blare, and Leia realized that her comrades had succeeded at last. The Death Star was collapsing in on itself.

Without another thought for the two Sith she had just killed, Leia turned and bolted for the dock.


	15. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A glimpse of life, ten years after the Restoration of the Republic

 

 

 

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. I hope you enjoy this epilogue. I tried to make it realistically happy. I have ideas for an original sequel (because I loathe the canon ones), but nothing solid. If I go through with it, I'll post a notice on this story. Thank you all for your support and compliments, they all meant the world to me. I'm glad you all enjoyed it.**

* * *

 

**Epilogue**

_**Coruscant 10 New Republic Era (fifteen years ABY)** _

Neither Han nor Leia enjoyed attending formal parties, but in this case they could hardly stay away. After all, Leia's twin brother was being installed as the new Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. His family could hardly avoid attending, though Leia had put away all signs of her Jedi allegiance (her lightsabre was hidden under the flowing skirt of her long blue dress. She wasn't a fool, after all) in order to help maintain neutrality.

She had put a lot of effort into ensuring that the Jedi Order were kept separate from all governments, and she wouldn't allow that to be jeopardized. Her former apprentice, Corran Horn, was the Jedi Liaison to the Senate and he was the one representing their Order at the party.

"How was the trip from Ahch-To?" Wedge asked his old commander as they waited for the show to begin.

Leia winced in remembrance as Han scowled and answered him. "Exhausting," he groaned. "Three small, energetic children with Force-sensitivity in a confined space for two days? It's a miracle my poor girl didn't collapse under the strain of their 'playing'." He put finger quotes around the last word, making Leia's lips quirk upwards at the side.

"It was a bit of a disaster," the Jedi agreed sheepishly. "But on the bright side, their control is rivalling some of my ten-year-old students!"

Wedge snickered in amusement for a moment before turning serious again. "So, they're doing well in their training then?"

"Oh yes," Leia flashed a bright smile, filled with pride for her children. Han too straightened up in pride for his kids.

"The twins have a bond to help themselves a bit, of course," Leia lectured, slipping into teaching mode without noticing. "Basically, they're tapping into each other's strength in order to increase their own, separate abilities.

And Ben is doing wonderfully, as well. Though, to be honest, I doubt he'll join the Order. I expect that once he's finished with the Academy, he'll probably go his own way. He's powerful, but he isn't as interested in the Force as the twins are. Not that it matters, as long as he learns control."

Leia and Han had three children. Ben was their eldest, born nine months after the Emperor and Vader's deaths, in the middle of the Battle of Jakku. Leia had refused to stop going on missions, regardless of her pregnancy, and had ended up going into labour right in the middle of the fight. Thankfully, it hadn't been a major one. Really, if not for the fact that it had been the incident where Admiral Pellaeon had been captured and Ben was born, it wouldn't have been note-worthy at all.

The twins, Jaina and Janren, were two years younger than their elder brother. Unlike the elder Solo child, they adored playing with their Force-granted abilities, and seemed more like one person in two bodies than two people. Frequently, they finished each other's sentences, and were perfectly content to be with each other to the exclusion of everybody else, a habit that their parents were attempting to break. The twins had been born six months before the Empire's official surrender at the Battle of Coruscant, where Alliance troops had invaded Imperial Centre and  _finally_  won the twenty-five-year war.

Right after the signing of the Treaty of Light as it was called, Leia had jumped headfirst into rebuilding the Jedi Order. (Though by then she was already training her first three apprentices simultaneously, Corran, an Iskalonian named Kiro she had met on a mission and, of course, her brother Luke, though Luke had never been Knighted officially, not wanting to leave politics.)

She had formed a Jedi Academy for children ranging from pre-school age up to fifteen (or the species equivalent). The Academy was a regular school that taught all subjects, but added in basic Force skills, meditation and self-defence. It was mostly for Force-sensitive children, but it wasn't exclusive to them. Upon graduating, Force-sensitive students had the option of either going their separate ways (with references from Leia Naberrie herself to help them get the best options available for whatever they wanted to do) or apprentice under a Sage.

Leia was determined to avoid the Order becoming so isolated that people forgot they weren't gods. That sort of mystery had been part of what allowed the Old Order to be so easily maligned and destroyed by the Sith. Making their training and the limits of their abilities more understandable was part of doing that.

Another part was that she had replaced the title of 'Master' with 'Sage'. Sage was an old word meaning 'wise one', and Leia thought it was more appropriate than 'master' was. After all, no one could ever fully learn everything there was to know about the Force. Even Yoda hadn't managed that in his millennia of study. And, as someone who had spent many years dealing with the dark underbelly of the world, Leia often linked 'master' with 'slave'. That was something she really wanted to avoid being associated with the Order.

Therefore, the ranks of the Order went Padawan, Knight, Sage and Grand Sage (the leader of the Order, though there were many checks in place to keep the Grand Sage from becoming too powerful). Leia was the current Grand Sage.

By now, Leia had six Sages and fourteen Knights in her Order. All of the Sages had between two or three Padawans, while eight of the Knights had at least one. Leia had done away with the old rule of only having one apprentice at a time (though you couldn't have more than three, otherwise they wouldn't get enough individual attention) and also written into the 'Constitution of the New Jedi Order' that, to progress from Knight to Sage, you had to have trained at least one Padawan to Knighthood. That way, no one would get out of passing along their skills. And everybody was required to teach a certain amount of Academy classes per year. It was very effective, actually.

Although not perfect, she added mentally, as she spotted someone she had hoped to avoid during the party. Carefully, she stepped backward slightly and adjusted her stance so that Kyp wouldn't be able to see her. Hopefully, the young man wouldn't cause a scene if he saw her.

"Leia?" Han asked, he and Wedge having both tensed automatically at her actions. Despite the years that had passed since the end of the war, they were all still attuned to each other's movements. War instincts didn't go lightly, especially when they had been nurtured so well.

"Kyp Durron is here," Leia murmured softly, making the two men grimace in recognition.

Kyp had been one of Leia's earliest apprentices, but her youngest at the time. He had also been incredibly arrogant, powerful and filled with a desire for revenge aimed at the Empire that had killed his parents and conscripted his brother. It had been a recipe for disaster from the beginning. Leia had tried to ease his anger, warning him of the Dark SIde, but he had refused to listen to her. Everything had culminated in him using his Force-abilities to attack an Imperial Training Academy. Fifty people had been killed, and Leia had taken the whole thing very seriously.

She couldn't support his actions, especially as fifteen members of the dead had been innocent bystanders. She had used a variant of the Empire's Force-blocker to suppress his abilities and expelled him from the Jedi. It was solely due to that, however, that Kyp had avoided being arrested for his crimes. Leia had even gone so far as to arrange for Kyp to study at a college of his choice. He was now assistant to Senator Borsk Fey'lya, an openly anti-Jedi member of the government, and Kyp himself was loudly against his former teacher and her brother.

"It's shameful," Wedge grumbled, frowning in the young man's direction. "He should be in prison, at the least. If not for you, he would have been. And yet he still has the nerve to slander you? After everything that you've done for him? Shameful."

Han scowled and nodded in agreement, whilst Leia merely sighed tiredly.

"It doesn't matter," she said firmly. "He and Fey'lya are full of talk, but that's all. Neither of them are genuine risks to myself or Luke, no matter what they say."

After all, public opinion was still firmly in favour of the war hero twins. Fey'lya was mostly sneered at as a coward. He had kept his planet neutral up until the Alliance had been invading Coruscant, at which point he had sworn allegiance to the Galactic Republic. For the moment, he wasn't a problem. Though in the future Leia thought he might be able to make things uncomfortable for Luke. Still, she was confident that the Force was with them, therefore there was no need for any of them to be concerned.

Changing the subject, Leia raised an eyebrow at her old friend. "So, do you have any news for us?"

Wedge groaned and threw his hands up in the air. "Of course, you know," he huffed. Then he grinned. "Qwi and I were approved last week," he admitted, eyes sparkling in delight. "We get to take them home next week."

"Congratulations, man," Han clapped him on the arm. Leia beamed and hugged her old friend tightly.

"You two're Forceparents, of course," the General added.

"Oh, we'd be honoured," Leia sniffed. "I'm so happy for you two!"

Wedge had met his wife, Qwi Xux, when he had rescued her from Imperial captivity, where she had been forced to design various weapons for the Imperial Navy. They had quickly bonded, and married after only three months.

But, even with genetic engineering, the damage Qwi had received during her time as a prisoner had prevented her ever carrying a child. Thus, for the past three years, the two Antilles had been working at trying to adopt a pair of war orphans, sisters Syal and Myri. Syal was Ben's age, and Myri was a year younger.

Concerns over Qwi's mental state after being a captive for years and Wedge's job as a member of the Republic Navy had caused many problems, and the couple had begun to fear that they would never be allowed to adopt the girls they already loved.

"What's going on here?" Neena called as she slipped through a group of people to join them. Her smile was distracted, and her gaze drifted in the direction of the wall that separated the adults' room from the children's one frequently. Unsurprising, as the former spy was supremely protective of her only child.

Unlike Leia and Han, Luke and Neena had waited until the New Republic was firmly established to begin their family, only to be met with months of heartache and negative pregnancy tests. Until four years ago, when they had at last been joined by Breha 'Rey' Leia Organa. The dark-haired young girl was sweet and determined, and more than a little spoilt by her parents. She would join Leia's academy the coming school year.

"Nothing's happening," Leia said lightly to her sister-in-law. "We were just chatting. Wedge was giving us his news."

Neena's smile widened as she looked at Wedge. "Yes, I heard from Qwi that you were approved," she said warmly. "Congratulations. We're all so pleased for you. Nothing in life is quite as fulfilling as being a parent."

Wedge opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a small fuss coming from the stage. Glancing over, they saw that (soon to be former) Chancellor Mon Mothma was striding onto the stage with the same brisk walk she had gained during the war and never lost. Following at her heels was Luke, a smile of satisfaction resting on his lips.

Leia's own lips tugged upward as she felt her brother's glee through their bond.

This was what he had wanted since he was a child. He had striven from youth to be heard, to gain a position that would give him the power to right the wrongs he saw in the galaxy. The fact that he had done so, even despite the fact that their relation to Darth Vader was an open fact, showed that the public had recognized just how much good he had done in his life and she was so very proud of him for that.

Originally, Luke had wanted to hide their connection to the dead Sith. But the Alliance Council had known about Leia already, and Leia had argued that the secret would come out eventually. If you _treat_  something as a dirty secret, it would  _become_ a dirty secret, she had reasoned. Better for them to announce their heritage on their terms, while the galaxy was cheering their names for their aid in restoring the Republic. And she had been right.

Everybody had been so pleased to be freed from the Empire's tyranny that their connection to Vader had barely been noted. In fact, many people had used it to turn more people against him. If not even his children could support him, if his daughter had chosen to kill him rather than support his actions, then how could anybody?

"Looks like we're about to start," Han stated as he wrapped an arm around Leia's shoulders and they turned to the stage.

"Yes," Neena agreed. Her expression shone with pride as she looked at her husband with a broad smile filled with triumph.

"I see Qwi," Wedge muttered. "I'll just go and join her. See you later?"

"Of course," Leia replied. "Give Qwi our best. Tell her how pleased we are for you both."

He flashed a grin and scrambled off, apologizing when he bumped into General Hera Syndulla's shoulder. The Twi'lek acknowledged him with a nod, but continued her discussion with Admiral Ackbar, and Ackbar's wife Winter.

The pairing of the Mon Calamari soldier and the princess of Alderaan four decades his junior had come as a surprise to many, but the two had worked closely with each other during the war. They had no children, nor did they seem to want any, but they were happy. And what else did anybody really want in life? Leia had asked philosophically when her brother had fussed over it. Luke had taken the hint and dropped the subject after that.

"Welcome all," Chancellor Mothma spoke into the speaker, ending all the noise in the room and drawing everybody's eyes to her. "This is a historic moment for our Republic," she continued.

Leia smiled as she listened. The Light glowed, stronger than ever. She had hunted down and either killed or converted all the known members of the Inquisitorius, the Jedi grew daily, her family was happy and healthy, and her brother was living out his dream. The galaxy was at peace, in a way she and Ezra had never dared to dream of, back as children. What more could she ask for?


	16. Chapter 16

Sequel is now up. Title is 'The Hidden Shadow'. Hope you all read, enjoy and review it.


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